Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship and business creation is fundamental to a healthy economy. Companies less than five years old create an average of 1.5 million new jobs for Americans each year.† Immigrants in particular play an important role in creating jobs as they are more likely to start a new business than the rest of the population. Despite this, the United States lacks a startup visa to welcome immigrant entrepreneurs with a proven idea and solid investment. This results in many business owners struggling to stay—at a cost to our economy and its workers.
† Jason Wiens and Chris Jackson, “The Importance of Young Firms for Economic Growth,” September 13, 2015. Available online.
After Fleeing Pinochet, Family Endures the Long Wait of U.S. Policy
Though born in Connecticut, successful entrepreneur and videographer Max Moraga has experienced xenophobia and the consequences of U.S. immigration policy firsthand. As a child, the first-generation Chilean-American was targeted for his Hispanic heritage. He was walking past the supermarket in his largely white, rural Connecticut town one day, when a… Read More
Mexican Contractor Started From Scratch, Now Builds Jobs
In August 2017, Salvador Ayala fulfilled a lifelong dream. The Bucks County, Pennsylvania, business owner purchased a house for his family — in cash. “That was a huge accomplishment for me,” says Ayala, a former undocumented immigrant from Mexico, who now owns Sal Home Improvement, a painting and remodeling company… Read More
Business Insider: Immigrant Entrepreneur Expanding Third Company
Immigrant entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of our nation’s diverse economy. One local woman is demonstrating that in central Florida. While the immigration issue itself is making heated headlines across the nation, the fact remains that immigrant entrepreneurs started 40 percent of the top Fortune 500 companies, including Google, Instagram and… Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneur’s Message to Washington: Do What’s Right, Not What’s Popular
Miriam, a popular brunch spot in Park Slope Brooklyn, has served one million eggs since it opened in 2005. The Mediterranean restaurant, known for its Arab-influenced Israeli foods like Shakshuka and Sabich eggplant sandwiches, frequently has lines out the door on the weekends. These days, gourmet Israeli cuisine is common… Read More
UK Immigrant Brings Diverse Voices, and a New Aladdin, to Hollywood
When Walt Disney Pictures released the animated feature “Aladdin” in 1992, the movie was criticized for its stereotypical portrayal of Arab culture. Now, to ensure that its upcoming live-action version is authentic and nuanced, Disney has turned to an immigrant entrepreneur named Marya Bangee, the owner of SILA Consulting. The name of the company, which… Read More
Once Undocumented, Mexican Salon Owner Wants to Prove Immigrants Make a Difference
Mexican immigrant Estela Nava has owned a hair salon on the South Side of Chicago for 30 years. Every day she tends to her clients’ needs for haircuts, color treatments, and perms. For Nava, who came to Chicago as an undocumented immigrant at age 17, owning her own business means… Read More
After Years Without Her Own Son, Peruvian Designer Calls on Washington to Pass the Dream Act
When Flor Cabello was starting her interior-decoration company in Westchester County, New York, she heard the word “no” a lot. Friends said her Peruvian accent and heritage would be off-putting to many of the area’s U.S.-born upper-middle-class residents — that is, her target clientele. Bank after bank refused to give… Read More
Iraq War Vet: Immigrants Critical to Fargo’s Growth
Around the 2016 presidential election, when some politicians in North Dakota introduced anti-immigration bills, the Fargo City Council and local business community pushed back. The reason: The city’s economic health depends on new Americans. “We have between 5,000 and 8,000 open jobs in Fargo-Moorhead, and we can’t honestly afford to… Read More
Massachusetts Tech Giant Once Couldn’t Get Hired. Why? The Visa System
When Amar Sawhney came from India in 1987 to study chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin), he had little but the few hundred dollars his mother had given him after selling her jewelry. Three decades later, he is a successful researcher, inventor, and serial entrepreneur who… Read More
Dreamer Builds a Successful Life in New York After Mother’s Deportation
Angel Reyes Rivas, the co-founder of a thriving technology company, has sacrificed more than most to become an educated, middle-class professional. When he was in high school, his mother was pulled over for driving without a license. As an undocumented immigrant from Peru, she was handed over to Immigration and… Read More
Immigrants Create American Jobs
How many jobs do immigrant entrepreneurs create? The data shows that firms owned by immigrants provide millions of jobs for U.S. workers and generate billions of dollars in annual income. With new business formation slowing in the United States, immigrant entrepreneurs have a critical role in many parts of the country, creating jobs for all Americans.
What percent of businesses are owned by immigrants?
The act of moving to another country is inherently courageous and risky. So, it comes as no surprise that immigrants tend to be more entrepreneurial than the rest of the population. In 2019, immigrant entrepreneurs made up 21.7 percent of all business owners in the United States, despite making up just over 13.6 percent of the population and 17.1 percent of the U.S. labor force.
Where Immigrants Are Most Entrepreneurial, 2019
Immigrants and the Recovery from the Great Recession
Foreign-born entrepreneurs and the jobs they created were instrumental in the recovery from the Great Recession. Between 2007 and 2011, immigrant entrepreneurs founded a large share of new businesses across the country and in several key states.
Share of New Businesses Founded by Immigrants in Select States, 2007-2011
Which Industries Are Immigrant Businesses Most Prevalent?
As important as the frequency with which immigrants start businesses is the diversity of fields in which they start them. Immigrants start more than 25 percent of all businesses in seven of the eight sectors that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to grow the fastest over the next decade. They also play a large role in founding both Main Street businesses1 and high-tech firms.2
Sources:
1 David Dyssegaard Kallick, “Bringing Vitality to Main Street: How Immigrant Small Businesses Help Local Economies Grow,” New York: Fiscal Policy Institute and Americas Society/Council of the Americas, 2015. Available online.
2 Vivek Wadhwa et al., “America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Part I,” SSRN Scholarly Paper (Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network, 2007). Available online.
Share of Businesses Started by Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Seven Key Sectors, 2007-2011
Immigrants Found both Main Street Businesses and High-Tech Firms
Business Ownership Among Immigrant Groups
Looking at specific ethnic and national origin groups within the immigrant population, we find that many exhibit entrepreneurship rates higher than the native-born. At right we highlight the particular contributions of Middle Eastern business owners in Detroit, a group frequently credited with helping to spur the city’s recent economic comeback.
Sources:
3 Steve Tobocman, “Guide to Immigrant Economic Development,” Welcoming America, accessed July 5, 2016. Available online.
4 New American Economy, "Reason for Reform: Entrepreneurship," October 2016. Available online.
Entrepreneurship Rates for Immigrant Subgroups, 2014
Immigrants and the Fortune 500
Consistent with past NAE research, a significant number of firms on the most recent Fortune 500 list were founded by immigrants or their children. These companies make enormous contributions to both the U.S. and global economy. They also live on beyond their founders, generating jobs and revenue long after their visionaries retire or move on.
Visa Obstacles
Currently, there is no visa for those who want to come to the United States, start a company, and create jobs for U.S. workers. To access a visa, many immigrant entrepreneurs choose to sell a majority stake in their company and then apply for a visa as a high-skilled worker rather than as the owner of the firm. Our broken H-1B visa system, however, means that many entrepreneurs cannot get a visa before the cap is exhausted each year. In 2016, the White House proposed a rule that would make it easier for entrepreneurs to remain in the country, but it is clear a more permanent, legislative fix is needed.5
Sources:
5 Issie Lapowski, “White House Proposes a New Immigration Rule for Entrepreneurs,” WIRED, accessed December 14, 2016. Available online.
6“USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2016,” USCIS, accessed December 14, 2016. Available online.
Low-Skilled Entrepreneurship
Immigrant entrepreneurs are hardly a monolithic group. While much of the attention is focused on high-skilled foreign-born entrepreneurs that drive innovation in Silicon Valley, immigrant entrepreneurs with humbler backgrounds continue to play critical roles in the U.S. economy. Founding retail shops, restaurants, and personal service businesses, these immigrant entrepreneurs help towns and cities across the United States stay vibrant. In sum, the over 2.1 million immigrant entrepreneurs with less than a college degree have a significant economic impact, creating billions of dollars in economic activity and providing jobs to thousands of Americans.
Top Industries Among Immigrant Entrepreneurs with Less than a Bachelor’s Degree, 2015
Entrepreneurship Rates of Workers in Various Demographic Groups, 2015
Business Income of Less-Skilled Immigrant Entrepreneurs, 2015
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