In the middle of 2009 during a year when the manufacturing sector was particularly hard hit, Talan Products, Inc., the Cleveland Ohio metal stamping company made the 2009 Inner City 100 list for the second year in a row. The list is a national ranking of the fastest growing inner-city companies from the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) and Inc. Magazine ( View PDF of Award here ). This is Talan’s third time being on the list overall in the 11 years of the award.

Talan was the only Cleveland company to make the list in 2008 , but in 2009 they were joined by two other Cleveland based companies – Voss Industries and Tenable Protection Services. Over 5000 nominations were received nationwide. Talan’s growth rate of 177% over the past five years propelled it into the top rankings. “We were thrilled to win again,” said Steve Peplin, Talan CEO, who attended the two-day event in Boston. “We consider it a big deal. And it’s a great ‘Good News’ story for Cleveland. For Cleveland to have two other companies is a really good showing.” Overall, five winning companies represented Ohio.