Key White House Immigration Advisor to Keynote Convening

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Today, the Welcoming Economies Global Network (WE Global Network) announced that Felicia Escobar, White House Special Assistant to the President for Immigration Policy, will deliver the keynote address at WE Global’s 3rd Annual Convening on July 9 at the Dayton Convention Center. Escobar will discuss the White House Task Force on New Americans and the new federal action plan. Ms. Escobar has been a key staff person for President Obama on immigration policy and the creation and implementation of the first-ever federal immigrant integration policy.

“I can’t think of a more important keynote speaker given the exciting efforts and visionary new policies coming from the White House and federal government on immigrant welcoming and integration,” said David Lubell, Executive Director of Welcoming America. “The White House recognizes that if America is to remain competitive in the global economy, we must support and maximize the efforts of local initiatives that welcome, retain, integrate, and empower immigrant communities. That’s why the WE Global Network is so important.”

The July 9 WE Global Conference in Dayton is the third annual gathering of regional leaders of local immigrant economic development initiatives working in 10 states to promote immigrants as valued contributors to local economies. Members of the network benefit from peer-to-peer learning exchanges, policy and research tools developed for immigrant economic development organizations, access to technical assistance, other capacity building resources, and the opportunity to build relationships and networks with other practitioners.

“To think that in just two short years, our network has grown from an initial gathering organized in less than two months to a national event with participation from the White House is pretty amazing,” said Global Detroit Executive Director Steve Tobocman. “The Dayton Convening promises to blaze new ground in this field.”

The White House Task Force on New Americans report includes recommendations to recognize and expand local initiatives like those in the WE Global Network and Ms. Escobar will share more about ongoing federal efforts to engage with local communities on immigrant integration and economic development.

Learning from the Pros

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By Isaac Piecuch

In Game 3 of this year’s NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors 96-91. While the team was lead by future Hall of Famer and Akron Ohio native Lebron James (40 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists), the win would have been impossible without a surprising effort from Australian-born Matthew Dellavedova. “Delly” scrapped for 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists while, on the defensive end, stifling this year’s MVP Stephen Curry for the bulk of the game. The Cavs also got 32 meaningful minutes out of center Timofey Mozgov, another immigrant out of Russia. It was a classic American tale; a diverse group including immigrants, African-Americans, and Caucasians triumphed through hard work, tenacity, and cooperation.

Wait, are we still talking about basketball?

The Rust Belt is a multicultural land of immigrants and natural-born citizens who, like this year’s Cavaliers, must scrap for all their success. We’re a hardworking people, unassuming of success, yet we have the ability and the mindset to compete with the rest of the world.

Like the Cavs, an injured team playing without two of its biggest stars, the Rust Belt has faced its fair share of setbacks; the last few decades have not been kind to cities like Detroit and Cleveland. But we’ve endured years of struggle (something I’m sure every Cleveland fan can relate to) and now stand on the precipice of victory.

The Cavaliers have built a title contender out of natural-born citizens and immigrants alike, riding to victory on the backs of African-Americans, Caucasians, Brazilians, Australians, and Russians – it’s a team of the World’s most talented basketball players, regardless of ethnic, national, or racial identity. This trend can be seen throughout American sports; 33% of players in the NHL were born outside of North America, while 26% of MLB players are from countries other than the U.S. These organizations value skill over country of origin.

The WE Global Network has a similar vision for the Rust Belt; we see the hard work and drive in every American that has helped this region thrive in the past. But we also recognize the value of skilled, motivated immigrants. Immigrants have been the backbone of this country, and by utilizing their skills to the fullest, we can help this area boom. Our Lebrons are going to keep being Lebrons; that’s a given. But the effort from our Dellavedovas will make all the difference.

 

Photo from Yahoo Sports

Immigrants: The Vacant Property Solution

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By Steve Tobocman

On Wednesday, May 20th the Welcoming Economies (WE) Global Network convened some 20 leaders representing 9 of the nation’s major land banks (or their equivalents), as well as representatives from the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Legacy Cities Partnership of the American Assembly for the first-ever national discussion of immigrants and land banks. The intimate 90-minute gathering enabled land banks to share best practices, identify opportunities, discuss challenges, and develop some additional work that can be done to assist Rust Belt cities in connecting their vacant property opportunities to immigrants and refugees looking for low-cost housing options.

Steve Tobocman, WE Global Network Co-Chair, who organized the gathering with the support of the Center for Community Progress at its National Reclaiming Vacant Property Conference—a gathering of some 1,200 vacant property leaders from across the country—started the discussion by providing a brief overview of the WE Global Network and the exciting movement that is sweeping the Rust Belt to focus on immigrants as a source of urban revitalization and economic growth. Land bank leaders from Syracuse, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Baltimore, Buffalo, Toledo, Detroit, and the State of Michigan also discussed the City of Dayton’s work to sell more than three dozen vacant properties to Ahiska Turkish families in Old North Dayton. These properties have been rehabbed by Turkish families and have been a significant part of the neighborhood’s revitalization.

The invite-only discussion was timely as earlier that morning, the conference heard a stirring keynote address from Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan who identified population growth as the single most defining metric for his administration. Immigrants must be a critical element for that growth as virtually no Rust Belt city has been able to stop population loss without a proven ability to attract and retain immigrants and refugees as residents.

The group also discussed the work of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank with its area refugee resettlement collaborative to identify housing opportunities for area refugees. Gus Frangos, the President and General Counsel of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, drew upon his years of experience in the housing redevelopment and rental markets and noted that one of the greatest challenges to redevelopment and housing agencies is identifying quality tenants, but that refugees who have been vetted and supported by refugee resettlement agencies make good tenants and should be attractive buyers and renters for land bank programs.

Dennis Roberts, Director of Programs and Property Management for the Cuyahoga County Land Bank, discussed the Land Bank’s work with the International Services Center (ISC) to sell 7 single-family homes that were rehabbed into new homes for refugees. Dennis noted that while many immigrants and refugees do not look at debt the way that U.S.-born residents do and may not want a 30-year mortgage, he noted that their success was predicated on taking on the immigrant and refugee opportunity and asking “how do we solve this challenge,” instead of simply developing a one-size fits-all property disposition policy and hoping that immigrants and refugees take advantage of the program.

Building on the success with ISC, the Cuyahoga County Land Bank is working with the Cleveland City Council and refugee resettlement collaborative to create a DREAM neighborhood that centers upon Thomas Jefferson School, a newly-constructed school in West Cleveland that services all of the English Language Learner (ELL) students in the Cleveland Public Schools. Councilman Joe Cimperman, along with Councilman Brian Cummins and Matthew Zone, have prioritized demolition dollars and, the Cuyahoga County Land Bank has used data to identify target properties in the foreclosure process to assist in neighborhood planning and housing redevelopment.

The session discussed a variety of topics related to building upon these examples and the local work that other communities are tackling. The discussion included identifying and navigating fair housing rules when creating programs targeting immigrants and refugees, addressing language and cultural barriers, solving mortgage and credit challenges, and using data. There was even a discussion about basic immigration terminology (what does the term “undocumented” actually mean). Innovative solutions including use of land contracts and lending circles were touched upon.

At the end of the 90-minute session participants identified that developing data on the potential size of immigrant and refugee communities in Rust Belt cities could be an important tool to highlighting the opportunities for land banks and other vacant property disposition entities. WE Global Network offered to provide some examples of sample reports that highlight the opportunities that exist in Rust Belt Cities. And the group discussed building upon these conversations at the WE Global Convening in Dayton on July 9th. To register for the Dayton event, please visit the conference registration page. We promise at least one panel discussion about housing, vacant property, and urban redevelopment will be on the agenda.

WE Global Network Launches Network for Immigrant Economic Development Initiatives Across America’s Rust Belt

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Initiatives across the Rust Belt join historic partnership with Welcoming America and Global Detroit to welcome immigrants and revitalize regional economies. As the WE Global Network launches, Presidential taskforce recognizes efforts as a model national practice.

Today, Welcoming America, Global Detroit, and more than a dozen economic development initiatives throughout the nation’s Rust Belt launched the Welcoming Economies Global Network (WE Global Network). It is comprised of groups from across the Midwest working to tap into the economic development opportunities created by welcoming immigrants.

“In the 20th century, the Rust Belt housed industrial powerhouses like the U.S. steel, coal, and auto industries, but today it is entrepreneurial partnerships between immigrants and local communities that are fueling the region’s economies,” said David Lubell, Executive Director of Welcoming America. “The WE Global Network recognizes that if we’re to remain competitive in the global economy, we must support and maximize the efforts of local initiatives that welcome, retain, integrate, and empower immigrant communities.”

As regional leaders of immigrant innovation, the WE Global Network is comprised of local immigrant economic development organizations working in 10 states to promote immigrants as valued contributors to local economies. Members of the network benefit from peer-to-peer learning exchanges, policy and research tools developed for immigrant economic development organizations, access to technical assistance, and other capacity building resources.

“Competing in a twenty-first century economy will require taking full advantage of our most important resource—our people, and that means welcoming the new Americans who are starting businesses, committing to our community, and helping build a stronger local economy” said Global Detroit Executive Director Steve Tobocman. “Communities across the country and around the world are in a race to the top to attract the human capital that will allow them to thrive in a global economy. Becoming a more welcoming place for immigrants gives us a leg up in that competition and helps us retain talented people of all backgrounds.“

The WE Global Network launch comes on the heels of yesterday’s White House release of a report featuring these efforts as a national best practice. Created by the White House Task Force on New Americans, the report affirms that immigrants and refugees contribute significantly to the United States’ continued economic prosperity and are also critical to our country’s social and cultural fabric. The Task Force is an interagency effort to develop a coordinated federal strategy to better integrate immigrants and refugees and build welcoming communities. Click here for the report, which will soon be available at: www.whitehouse.gov/newamericans.

H-1B Day of Action Recap

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On Thursday, April 9th, two days after the federal government closed the H-1B application process for FY 2016, WE Global Network members and partners across the region, especially our partners at the Great Lakes Metro Chambers of Commerce, joined together on a Day of Action to spread the word that immigrants can be a critical piece of our economic growth in the Midwest. Specifically, nearly a half dozen WE Global members held press conferences, issued press releases, and wrote letters to the editor highlighting that immigrants are helping Midwest companies fill unmet talent needs and providing our region some of the world’s best and brightest so that our local companies expand and are able to hire additional Americans.

The H-1B cap is not just an issue for Silicon Valley or the coasts. In fact, according to new research from the Brookings Institution, metro areas like Detroit and Chicago utilized more H-1B visas recently than Boston, the Research Triangle, or Seattle.

Yesterday, the federal government released the actual number of H-1B applications filed during the five-day period starting April 1, 2015 during which applications were accepted. Again, the nation’s demand for H-1B talent reached a new record high with 233,000 applications filed for the 85,000 visas. This is a 35 percent increase from the 172,5000 filed in April 2014. This is a pretty startling statistic when you consider that it can cost an employer some $5,000 to file the application and, based upon historic trends, employers are really only likely to have a 50 percent chance of their application winning the H-1B lottery (a chance that has declined to 36 percent this year).

In any event, last week’s WE Global efforts helped spread the word about this issue in areas of the country that may have lower immigration numbers and that may be unaware of the issue’s importance. Below is a collection of the media generated:

Cleveland

Buffalo

Detroit

Pittsburgh

St. Louis

Toledo

Diverse by Design travels to Detroit

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By Erika Fiola

On Monday, January 26, nine members of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s Diverse by Design initiative and Mayor Cranley’ss Immigration Task Force traveled to Detroit to learn about organizations and initiatives focused on attracting and retaining immigrants and international students. The purpose of the visit was for the two cities to learn from each other and deepen the impact of their individual efforts to create robust economic growth in their regions through immigrant inclusion. View the photos.

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Steve Tobocman, our host and the guiding force behind Global Detroit, assembled a powerful group of Detroit leaders to share their story. In our brief trip, we had the opportunity to meet four Detroit city council members, representatives from the governor’s office and leaders of many of Detroit’s immigrant communities.

The trip began with a presentation from Jeff Towns, the Executive Director of the Michigan Global Talent Retention Initiative (GTRI). Michigan’s experience will inform planning by the Diverse by Design Immigration Action Team for an International Student Career Forum on March 10 at the University of Cincinnati.

10855064_10152732846324094_4450496596798053574_oMore of the leaders working to make Detroit more immigrant-friendly joined our group for dinner at Al Ameer in Dearborn, an inner ring suburb with a large Arabic population. For University of Cincinnati student Rebecca Lu Zhang, this was her first taste of shawarma, falafel and more.

The next morning started with presentations from Steve Tobocman and Beth Szurpicki of Global Detroit that focused on their immigrant-friendly opportunity neighborhoods and their cultural ambassadors program. The group also heard presentations from Mary Lane of Welcome Mat Detroit, Christine Sauve of Welcoming Michigan and Annie Fenton of Upwardly Global. There was also a rewarding conversation about program evaluation and effective ways we can measure success.

10842270_10152732847674094_8214302618597826301_oThe morning concluded with a tour of some of Detroit’s ethnic neighborhoods, including Banglatown and Mexicantown and finished with a stop for lunch at El Nacimiento.

While quick, all participants agreed that it was a very worthwhile trip that stimulated lots of new ideas on how we can better welcome and engage immigrants here in Cincinnati. Our thanks to the Knight Foundation and the JM Kaplan Fund for providing the funding for the trip through the WE Global Network.

 

This post originally appeared on Agenda 360’s blog.

Detroit Welcomes Cincinnati for Welcoming Economies City to City visit

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By Global Detroit

On Monday, January 25th, a team of 9 community leaders from Cincinnati from diverse fields visited Detroit as part of the WE Global Network’s city-to-city visit program. The purpose of the WE Global Network’s city-to-city visits is to enable local immigrant economic development organizations in the Rust Belt to learn from each other’s work, and also deepen relationships with other cities in the Midwest who are doing similar work in economic development, neighborhood revitalization, and immigrant integration. The Detroit-Cincinnati visit was on of five other similar visits facilitated by the WE Global Network under grants from the Knight Foundation and JM Kaplan Fund.

Working

Jeff Townes shares GTRI’s strategies for international student retention

The visit was over two days and began with introductions and a session designed to get to know each other better, and also address Cincinnati representatives’ most pressing interest: the retention of international students. Team Cincinnati met and heard from Global Talent Retention Initiative (GTRI) Director, Jeff Townes. Jeff outlined GTRI’s strategies for developing university and corporate partners, and for showcasing students and the 76 GOemployers that are interested in hiring international students through conferences that focus on connecting students and employers.

A 2013 GTRI and Global Detroit report notes that “58% of international students approved for Optional Practical Training (OPT) [work opportunities post-graduation allowed for most international students studying in the U.S.] through our original 7 GOuniversities stayed in Michigan after graduation (compared to 63% of the domestic population native to Michigan and 22% of the domestic students from out of state).” A recent GTRI grant report notes that the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Eastern Michigan University have doubled the number of international students utilizing the OPT work option after graduation from 1,066 in 2011 to 2,209 in 2014.

Bus

Bus tour through Detroit

Other sessions during the city-to-city visits included a series of presentations by Global Detroit’s partner initiatives to outline immigrant welcoming, integration, and economic development work in Metro Detroit, as well as a tour the immigrant dense neighborhoods of Hamtramck/Detroit (BanglaTown) and Southwest Detroit. A highlight of the visit was a dinner for over 25 people, including four Detroit City Council members and/or their staffs (Council members Spivey, Castaneda-Lopez, Leland, and Benson participated in the dinner or other events).

Alameer B

Althea Barnett, Daniel Rajaiah, Steve Tobocman, Karen Phillippi

On the visit were Mary Stagaman and Erika Fiola, Agenda 360, Althea Barnett from the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission, Sally Duffy, Sister of Charity Ministry Foundation, Daniel Rajaiah of the Mayor’s Office (and the Mayor and City Council Immigration Task Force), Rebecca Zu, City of Cincinnati, Bryan Wright, Cincinnati Community College, and Shau Zavon, Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.  The organizations are in varying degrees of development on immigrant integration.

We hope to develop long lasting relationships with regular check-ins to continue to report our growth and learning on ground, and also, to learn from the development of our partner organizations.

 

Indianapolis visits Welcome Dayton

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The Immigrant Welcome Center of Indianapolis came to Dayton on January 30 for a city to city visit with Welcome Dayton. Melissa Bertolo, Welcome Dayton Program Coordinator, invited the IWC to Dayton because Welcome Dayton has a sub-committee focused on creating a welcome center. In order to ensure a mutually beneficial visit, Melissa arranged additional meetings for the visitors.

After a welcome by Catherine Crosby, Executive Director of the Human Relations Council, the visitors from Indianapolis met with Stephanie Precht, Director of Public Policy and Economic Development at the Dayton Chamber of Commerce. Stephanie is also chair of the Welcome Dayton Business and Economic Development sub-Committee. Stephanie discussed the Chamber’s interest in Welcome Day and highlighted work being done including career discernment services for skilled immigrants, small business resource fairs, and international student retention research.

After discussing the economic development work being done by the Dayton Chamber, the group visited East End Community Services. East End is a wrap-around social service agency located in the Twin Towers neighborhood, which has experienced rapid demographic changes with a growing Latino community. Jan Lepore-Jentleson, Executive Director of East End and chair of the Welcome Center sub-Committee welcomed guests. Representatives from Dayton Public Schools, Premier Health, the Dayton Police Department, and Hispanic Catholic Ministries were all excited about the information shared and felt inspired to continue to think about how the Indianapolis model might be implemented in Dayton.

With no time for a break, Melissa, Tom, and the visitors from Indianapolis went to their next meeting with Officer Dan Mamula. Officer Mamula discussed the work he and other officers are doing including mentoring young immigrants, orientation with recently arrived refugees, and trainings for new recruits. Indianapolis was particularly interested in discussing how to build trust within immigrant communities and Officer Mamula explained the importance of being able to build relationships and be present at community events. Officer Mamula discussed the importance of having the support from the top in the work he does. He explained that he is able to attend all of the community events because the Chief and Command Staff encourage officers to be engaged and allow them to do so as a part of their work.

The meetings ended with conversation around language access, which both cities acknowledged as a challenge throughout their communities. Melissa shared Dayton’s newly adopted language access policy and the trainings taking place with it.

Finally, with a day filled with inspiring conversation and interesting ideas, Melissa took the Indianapolis visitors on a short tour of some areas being revitalized in Dayton. The tour included Neal Avenue where they saw several community gardens tended by a group of African refugees, through Old North Dayton where the history of the past and present have created a multi-ethnic neighborhood, and back to Twin Towers to understand how the presence of East End Community Services has been essential in the community’s growth.

Before heading back to Indianapolis, a quick dinner was had at a local NY Pizzeria owned by an Ahiska Turkish family. After all, nothing demonstrates America quite like a pizza shop owned by new immigrants.

What We Learned in Minnesota: Vertically Integrated Entrepreneurship

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The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians visits the Neighborhood Development Center of Minneapolis 

Natalie Herman

The Welcoming Center was delighted to send ourr small business team to Minneapolis to visit the Neighborhood Development Center last month. Natalie Cramer and Herman Nyamunga (pictured at right) spent two days with colleagues at the NDC, learning about their work and sharing lessons from our own practice here in Philadelphia.

A Mature Model: How NDC’s Vertically Integrated Services Help Build Neighborhood Economies from Within

Perhaps the most powerful part of our Minneapolis visit was witnessing the step-by-step progression that connects each of the Neighborhood Development Center’s services.  This “vertical integration” allows entrepreneurs to get the help they need at each stage of business growth.

A few of the services included in NDC’s model:

  • Business Training via an in-depth 11-week curriculum. Participants must complete an application and pass an interview to gain admittance.Training is offered both by NDC itself and through partner organizations in various neighborhoods.
  • The Business Lab, which provides technical assistance in areas such as rebranding, storefront improvement, and other business support.
  • Financing through NDC’s own community development financial institution. Loan amounts range from the micro-enterprise level up to $250,000 for eligible applicants.
  • Real estate Most of NDC’s seven properties are multi-use incubators. Their largest project, the Midtown Global Market, is a transformative endeavor which entailed redeveloping part of a large abandoned property with a food incubator modeled after Philadelphia’s own Reading Terminal Market. The market hosts entrepreneurs from all over the world (and from the local community) selling unique and delicious products.

group shotOverall, we were inspired and energized by NDC’s deep, sustained community commitment. Their ability to train, lend, provide incubator space and low-cost technical assistance creates a supportive and all-encompassing approach to community based economic development.

Perhaps most importantly, NDC has been able to grow and adapt to the needs of their clients while maintaining their mission of working in and for their community.

 

Sharing Lessons from Philadelphia: Bolstering Micro-Import & Export

How do you amplify the ability of neighborhood businesses to import and export products from abroad? Our staff provided a workshop for NDC and its partners that outlined the Welcoming Center’s process. A few highlights are below.
Immpreneur1. Gather information. We interviewed 30 immigrant entrepreneurs who were importing and exporting; identified and cataloged the products they were handling; interviewed logistics providers (such as freight consolidators); and mapped the supply chain.
2. Identify issues. Among the challenges we identified were:
  • Poor product labeling (leading to some merchants losing their products due to confiscation by inspectors)
  • Inadequate capacity to manage bulk importing/exporting
  • Lack of financing
  • Misinterpretation of regulations due to language barriers
  • Lack of sales/marketing capacity
Meeting3.  Implement solutions. We have addressed these challenges using six different approaches. Two are described below.
  • Collaborating
    with local lenders, the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, the Export/Import Bank of the United States, and others who have relevant expertise to share with local entrepreneurs
  • Providing technical assistance workshops and consultations on topics such as choosing a freight agent or consolidator; maritime insurance; sales and marketing; and financing.

 

Study Highlights Need for Immigrant Inclusion in Revitalization of Main Streets

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This past week, the Fiscal Policy Institute, in conjunction with the America’s Society and Council of the Americas (AS/COA) released groundbreaking new research about the importance and prevalence of America’s immigrants in building and sustaining Main Street commercial retail businesses. While only 13 percent of America, immigrants make up fully 28 percent of the owners of “Main Street businesses,” defined as retail, accommodation and food services, and neighborhood service businesses.

Main Street Business OwnersMore specifically, immigrant entrepreneurs own 58 percent of dry cleaners, 53 percent of grocery stores, 38 percent of restaurants, 32 percent of all clothing stores, 28 percent of department and discount stores, and 25 percent of electronics, radio, television, and computer stores. In short, this research suggests that as planners, government leaders, nonprofits, foundations, and others seek to develop and implement strategies to revitalize Rust Belt and Midwest cities, neighborhoods, and communities, as well as to continue the growth of downtown commercial districts, they had best consider the role that immigrants play, can play, and will play. Anything less is to turn one’s back to a significant source of investment, risk-taking, ingenuity, hard work, and opportunity.

These immigrant-owned Main Street businesses earn $13 billion annually, provide a critical source of first jobs for many in the American workforce, and “play an important role in generating neighborhood-level economic growth by making these areas attractive places to live and work,” according to the report.

On Wednesday, January 14, WE Global Network organizations from Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Philadelphia attended the release of the study in New York City, including a roundtable discussion between the study’s author David Kallick and representatives from the three metros that received more in-depth treatment and analysis—Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, and Philadelphia. The report compares 2000 and 2013 Census data noting that immigrants accounted for 48 percent of overall growth of business ownership in the U.S. during this time and all of the growth in Main Street business in 31 of the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas and an impressive share of the increase in the remaining 19 areas. The number of immigrant Main Street business owners increased even in the seven metro areas (of the nation’s 50 largest) that saw an overall decline in Main Street business owners (such metros include Detroit, Birmingham, Columbus, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Providence, and Pittsburgh).

The study highlights the work of two WE Global Network core organizations—the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) in Minneapolis/St. Paul and the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians in Philadelphia. NDC is recognized for its culturally competent, comprehensive micro-enterprise training, lending, and incubator development work, including its Islamic law compliant, Reba free, loan fund. The Welcoming Center is praised for its work with entrepreneurs and neighborhood revitalization groups, including its work to diffuse racial and ethnic tensions in Philadelphia neighborhoods.

The WE Global Network has worked with the study’s author, David Kallick, who serves as the Director of Immigrant Research Initiative at the Fiscal Policy Institute, since our initial convening launching the Network in Detroit in June 2013. Traditionally, David has been helpful in tempering our descriptions of immigrant entrepreneurialism, critiquing our language about immigrant exceptionalism. Given our dialogue about the numbers, it was somewhat surprising and very encouraging to see such bold conclusions by the report. One should feel very confident in the study’s conclusions by such a rigorous researcher.

In addition to documenting the incredible impact immigrant Main Street businesses have had on American cities and neighborhoods, the report makes some important recommendations for local and state government, including:

  • Establish a climate of welcoming
  • Create a government office to address immigrant integration
  • Provide a culturally competent business training and services
  • Make sure programs are open to all
  • Be attentive to the challenges undocumented immigrants face
  • Take advantage of the valuable services refugee resettlement agencies offer
  • Make financing innovative and community-based
  • Link financing to training and business support
  • Establish some incubators, especially commercial kitchens
  • Improve licensing and inspections for everyone
  • Use place-based development strategies to help Main Street businesses build neighborhoods
  • Expand the reach of chambers of commerce and trade or interest groups
  • Help manage cultural and economic tensions
  • Pay attention to wages for workers

The significance of the study was highlighted in a Wall Street Journal story on it. We look forward to discussing the study’s contents and suggestions at the Third Annual Convening in Dayton. The importance of immigrants to the Main Street businesses of the Rust Belt and Midwest is evident in the winners of our Network’s “A Day in the Life of Immigrant Entrepreneurs” which features several Main Street business owners. In the coming months, we will continue to highlight the implementation of the strategies recommended by the report.