Karolyn Chamberlin, Small Business Development Manager at the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, speaks at “Reaching and Engaging Immigrant Businesses” on April 24, 2012.

It’s not easy for economic and community developers to make productive connections with small businesses. It’s even harder when the business owners come from a different place, speak a different language and likely have very different worldviews and cultures. In fact, immigrant businesses in neighborhoods are largely disconnected from the services available to support their growth.

However, these immigrant-owned businesses revitalize neighborhoods that have been in long-term decline and are an important part of strengthening local economies. The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) partnered with MassINC and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporation to host a workshop on “Reaching and Engaging Immigrant Businesses,” provided by the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. The Welcoming Center has developed innovative approaches, methods and tools for reaching and engaging immigrant businesses over the last decade.

The workshop was made possible by a grant from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) under Sustainable Communities funding provided by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). Fifty economic and community development professionals in Greater Boston participated in a full-day training at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on April 24, 2012. A special half-day training was provided the next day for a similar group in Lynn where an in-depth project to support the growth of immigrant businesses will take place over the next eight months.

Ana Patricia Munoz, senior policy analyst (regional and community outreach) at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston welcomed participants. The workshop was facilitated by two members of the Welcoming Center: Deputy Director Bahiya Cabral-Johnson (pictured left) and Small Business Development Manager Karolyn Chamberlin

Through group exercises, presentations and case studies, Cabral-Johnson and Chamberlin guided participants through today’s best tools and techniques for connecting to and maintaining relationships with immigrant business owners. They tackled issues like economic integration, explained why immigrant entrepreneurs were economic assets and instructed on various means through which organizations could measure the success of their outreach initiatives. Some highlights from the training included how to conduct initial contacts with immigrant businesses, how to develop simple business guides and the cell phone alert system “Opportunity Calls.” The full training agenda can be found here.

The workshop concluded with a spirited Q&A illustrating the enthusiasm of participants and the importance of the information provided by the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians.

A participant presents the findings of her group during an exercise at the workshop “Reaching and Engaging Immigrant Businesses.”

Malden, the home of The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC), is one of the most diverse cities in Massachusetts. On April 4, 2012, Diane Portnoy, ILC president and CEO, spoke at a panel discussion at Malden High School about “Living in a Culturally Diverse Community.” She spoke about the immigrant experience from her perspective coming to the U.S. as a child with her parents and from serving immigrants for nearly 20 years at The ILC. She also talked about the contributions of immigrants to their communities.

Here is a short video clip of Diane discussing the benefits that immigrants bring to Massachusetts and the U.S.

Here is a short video clip of Diane and a Malden High School honor student talking about adjusting to life in the U.S., forming community and giving back.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Immigration Policy Center of the American Immigration Council (IPC) in Washington, D.C. published a paper written by The ILC Public Education Institute Director Marcia Hohn. Titled “Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Creating Jobs and Strengthening the Economy,” the paper details the contributions of immigrant entrepreneurs and provides policy recommendations to increase the pool of immigrant entrepreneurs who can help boost sagging U.S. employment and economic growth.

The launch took place on January 25, 2012, via tele-briefing. The paper is available here on The ILC website.

As noted in the paper, it has long been established that immigrant entrepreneurs help to drive the economy. Eighteen percent of Fortune 500 companies from Big Lots to Google were founded by immigrants.

At the launch, Dr. Hohn noted that “immigrant-owned growth businesses are hugely important to strengthening local economies as well as providing jobs essential to economic recovery. The U.S. Small Business Association estimates that small businesses have generated 64% of the net new jobs over the past 15 years and credits immigrant businesses with a significant contribution to this job growth.”

Yet restrictive U.S. immigration policies coupled with competition from other countries are forcing out immigrant entrepreneurs, many of whom were educated and trained here.

According to Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council, “Regardless of one’s school of thought, there is very little disagreement among researchers and experts that immigrant entrepreneurship is a powerful and valuable asset to America’s economic future.”

He further explained, “While much is made of the high-tech, highly educated immigrant entrepreneur, this report reinforces that it is less about your degree or the product you produce and far more about recognizing a need in your community and having the skills and commitment to bring a dream to life.”

In the paper, Dr. Hohn writes that it is critical to understand “the range of contributions that immigrant entrepreneurs make at every level of business enterprise…revitalizing neighborhoods, fueling growth industries, advancing technology and facilitating transnational business.”

The report offers a comprehensive look at each of these areas of immigrant entrepreneurship and provides real-life examples from the Institute’s research and other studies from across the country.

Randy Johnson, senior vice president of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said of the report, “We hope that the report’s findings will spur positive discussions regarding immigration reform but also provide new fuel for those already ongoing.”

To read more, view the full paper here.

Marcia Hohn, right, at the National Immigrant Integration Conference 2011 in Seattle after presenting at the session “Building Your Data Toolbox.” With her are, from left, Maki Park of the Migration Policy Institute, Mary Giovagnoli of the Immigration Policy Center and Thomas Huddleston of the Migrant Integration Policy Index.

Research and database impress attendees at national conference

Marcia Hohn and Denzil Mohammed were among the 700 professionals who journeyed from across the United States, Europe and Latin America to Seattle, Washington, on October 23, 2011 for the National Immigrant Integration Conference.

Speaking on the theme “Beyond the Bodega: Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs to Foster Wider Economic Growth,” Marcia presented “Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Engines of Economic Growth and Job Creation,” which drew upon ILC-commissioned research. The panel included speakers from the Commerce Department for the City of Philadelphia, Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians and Hispanic Economic Development of Kansas City and was moderated by Steve Tobocman of Global Detroit.

Marcia demonstrated the ways in which the foreign-born have revitalized declining neighborhoods, created jobs and pumped wealth into the Massachusetts economy by starting their own businesses.

Following her speech, Marcia was inundated by participants eager to learn more about her research models and findings, making some valuable connections in the process.

Denzil instructed participants on navigating the Immigration Research and Information website. Presenting in the workshop on “Building your Data Toolbox,” he identified the hundreds of studies, fact sheets and basic data that had been pooled together on the online database through a collaboration between The ILC and the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Participants were pleased to discover such a comprehensive online resource that could assist them in their education, advocacy and research.

Other presenters included representatives from Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., and Migration Policy Group in Brussels. The session was moderated by Mary Giovagnoli of the Immigration Policy Center.

Both Marcia and Denzil lauded the National Partnership for New Americans for organizing a thoughtful and exciting event. It offered an impressive store of new information to help in educating the public on the contribution of immigrants to the U.S. economy and society. In addition, the conference provided a rare opportunity for the Institute to make vital connections with the new and eager professionals in similar organizations who are making strides in pushing for immigration reform.

Immigrant integration practices examined in London, Paris and Brussels

Malden, Paris, London  and Brussels all share one important feature. They are all home to innovative programs for immigrants and refugees.

This is what students at the Boston College (BC) Graduate School of Social Work discovered on a cross-continental, fact-finding mission to develop immigrant integration recommendations.

Led by Dr. Westy Egmont, president of the International Institute of Boston, 12 master’s students made their first stop in Malden on July 19, 2011. They toured The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) before jetting off to London’s Jesuit Refugee Services, Brussels’ Foyer and various United Nations and government offices in Paris.

The students learned how our direct-service program assists immigrants not only with English language learning but also with Western cultural practices, job market navigation and the citizenship test. They visited classes, toured the IBM/Verizon Computer Lab and sat in on a theater class where they heard personal stories from Iranian, Colombian and Vietnamese students.

On the fourth floor, Dr. Marcia Drew Hohn, director of The ILC Public Education Institute, guided the BC students through the Institute’s research. She also gave a lesson in immigration legislation.

The students were quick note-takers, using The ILC’s example to compare and evaluate the other organizations they were about to visit.

Two months later, on September 23, 2011, the students shared their findings with immigration experts at the Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants in Boston.

In attendance were Deniz Riordan, district director, U.S. Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services; Eva Millona, executive director, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; Juan Vega, president and CEO, Centro Latino, Inc. and The ILC Public Education Institute’s Dr. Hohn, assistant director Denzil Mohammed and director of communications Karen E. Glover.

Each BC student recommended an integration initiative based on practices at the sites they visited. These included more multi-service and “one-stop centers,” cultural mediators to encourage understanding and tolerance, and a new definition of “citizenship.”

Dr. Egmont said he was extremely satisfied with the outcome of this student trip, his first such excursion, and he plans to repeat this trip with future social work students.

Equipping educators to manage classroom diversity

A full house of educators descended on The ILC Public Education Institute for our Teacher Forum “Teaching Immigration Across the Curriculum” on July 13 and 14, 2011.

Participants ranged from librarians to principals. They sought to use the Forum as a springboard for innovative lesson plans and projects.

The Forum generated two days of intense discussion on immigration policy, enlightening presentations on Asians and Latino/as and, according to one teacher from Marlborough High School, a rare chance for “networking with other members of the ELL [English language learner] community.” Presentations were made by The ILC Public Education Institute Director Marcia Hohn, EdD as well as Sophia Kim MEd, adjunct lecturer in the Asian American Studies Program, and Lorna Rivera PhD, associate professor of Sociology and Community Planning, both of the University of Massachusetts Boston.

A participant from Boston Public Schools (Roxbury) found it “very crucial in this day and age given the kind of diversity that schools are dealing with.”

Indeed, the educators all had stories to tell about the challenges of dealing with student immigrants due to their lack of knowledge about immigrant issues. For one teacher, the Forum reinforced her view that, as a teacher, she needs “to know how to support [my] students independent of their documentation status in the planning of their education and their future.”

More than 200 teachers have benefited from the annual free, two-day workshop for educators from K-12, adult basic education and English-language programs that afford participants professional development points while deepening their understanding of immigrant students.

The 2012 Teacher Forum will be provided online. For information on this and other activities, sign up for our newsletter.

Conference Confirms Immigrant Entrepreneurs Spur Economic Growth and Create Jobs in Massachusetts

November 17, 2010

Babson College, Wellesley, MA.

hosted by The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.

WELLESLEY, MA—The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) in collaboration with Babson College held a statewide conference at the College that confirms Massachusetts immigrant entrepreneurs are engines of economic growth and job creation in the Commonwealth.

An audience of nearly 100 state and local policy makers and community economic developers learned about the contributions of Massachusetts immigrant entrepreneurs who come from all corners of the globe and start businesses from neighborhood storefronts to science and technology firms.

Twenty immigrant entrepreneurs and researchers presented extensive documentation showing how immigrant entrepreneurs bring billions of dollars worth of education and training as well as their talent, energy, risk taking and indomitable spirit that benefit the Commonwealth and the nation.

Key findings on Massachusetts immigrant entrepreneurs presented at the Conference included:

1. Immigrants established 25.7 percent of biotechnology firms in the Commonwealth that generated 4,000 jobs and $7.6 billion in revenue in 2006 alone.
2. Asian-owned businesses grew an astounding 44 percent in the previous economic census. Asian Americans, who are mostly immigrants, created 18,801 companies from nail salons to scientific firms and paid more than 37,000 employees with an annual payroll of $1.2 billion.
3. Immigrants command ownership of 33 percent of restaurants and hotel accommodations businesses.
4. Immigrant-owned storefront businesses in economically-depressed neighborhoods revived commerce in those communities by providing goods and services for ethnic groups and native-born consumers, stimulating other business growth and making those neighborhoods safer and more attractive.

According to Director of the ILC Public Education Institute Dr. Marcia Hohn, “Immigrant entrepreneurship is an old story in America but a changing one. As we move into the new world of global business, these entrepreneurs provide crucial models, connections and cultural know-how for doing business internationally.

They create new pathways for conducting business in the global marketplace that will bring critical wealth creation and jobs to Massachusetts and the country.”

Conference presenters included Dr. Jan Vilcek of New York University and co-developer of the breakthrough drug Remicade; Yumin Choi of The Capital Network; and Richard Herman, coauthor of Immigrant, Inc. Mr. Herman addressed how immigrant entrepreneurs could be welcomed and supported in order to build wealth and benefit local economies.

Key information from the Conference on Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Massachusetts:

• Biographies of keynote and panel speakers
• Profiles of Massachusetts immigrant entrepreneurs
• Descriptions and policy/action recommendations on immigrant entrepreneurs

Download presentations (PDF):

• Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Massachusetts by Julio DeCastro
• Immigrants as Small Business Owners by Alison Moronta
• Perlera Real Estate by Saul Perlera
• Beyond The Bodega by Alvaro Lima
• The Development of a Breakthrough Drug by Jan Vilcek
• STEM Immigrant Entrepreneurs by Vinit Nijhawan
• High Tech Entrepreneurs by Amnon Aliphas
• Microfinance for Small Businesses by Rodrigo Cerveira
• Tools for Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs by Anne O’Callaghan