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.

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 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).

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.

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

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.

Overall, 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

1. 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.

3.  Implement solutions. We have addressed these challenges using six different approaches. Two are described below.