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.
‘Just Give Them a Meal,’ Says Pakistani-American Whose Restaurant Feeds the Homeless
When Kazi Mannan threw a grand opening party for Sakina Halal Grill, his Pakistani-Indian restaurant in Washington, D.C., his friends were surprised that they weren’t included on the guest list. Did he ditch them for a bunch of high-ranking politicos? No. The VIPs were all homeless. After serving his homeless… Read More
Despite Immigration Hurdles, British Entrepreneur Builds Successful Start-Up in St. Louis
Amit Kothari is the exact sort of entrepreneur that many cities would love to attract to their area. With a degree in computer science, the United Kingdom native has been at the helm of various start-ups, including one that helps individuals find quotes online and another that creates newspapers for… Read More
Inc: Mark Cuban-Backed Group Explains How Immigrants Affect Your Local Economy
As the Trump administration continues its push for aggressive enforcement of immigration laws, a group of business leaders want to use economic data to influence the conversation. A group called New American Economy–whose members include Y Combinator’s Sam Altman, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Twitter and Square’s Jack Dorsey, and… Read More
Entrepreneur: Entrepreneurs Are Being Deported — And They Might Be At The Center of America’s Coming Immigration Fight
On a recent Thursday morning in Cambridge, Mass., Alessandro Babini straps his company’s palm-size wearable device onto his arm. He’s the cofounder of a startup called Humon, which makes a next-generation fitness gadget. It monitors how well a user’s muscles are processing oxygen and then relays that information to an… Read More
Immigrant Professor Aims to Solve Dental Health Issues Costing Americans $60 Billion per Year
Shortly after the Chinese Cultural Revolution — a decade that saw the brutal persecution of intellectuals — China reversed course and started seeking foreign brainpower to help salvage its ravaged economy. As part of Deng Xiaping’s sweeping economic reforms, the state began sending its most promising students to overseas universities. Read More
Afghan Entrepreneur is Behind one of Maryland’s Most Successful Technology Startups
Haroon Mokhtarzada knows all too well what it’s like to start over. When he was just 3 years old, his parents fled the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, ultimately moving their family to the United States as political refugees. Although his family was quite well off back home, the war… Read More
Even Facing Immigration Hurdles, This Singapore Native Started a $40 Million Business
“I would have started my business much earlier if not for the limitations posed by U.S. immigration laws,” says Shan-Lyn Ma, the co-founder and CEO of Zola – a $40 million modern wedding registry business. Ma, who was born in Singapore but grew up in Australia, moved to… Read More
Green Energy Entrepreneur Succeeded Despite our Cumbersome Immigration System
Tom Szaky, a green energy entrepreneur, credits his immigrant experience with helping him see a business opportunity few others did—and having the motivation to pursue it. Szaky, who was born in Hungary, fled the country at the age of four with his family. Settling in Toronto, Canada, Tom says… Read More
A Multigenerational Path of Migration Leads to Jobs in Florida
Bombay native Sarvar Demehri arrived in the United States in 1981 alongside her husband, an electrical engineer who worked for a NASA subcontractor. She was just 21, and fresh out of college. A few years later, the pair opened their own business in Florida, a company dedicated to home security… Read More
Current Immigration Policy Does Not Benefit Economy, Says Lawyer
“Nothing in immigration is straightforward,” says Martin “Marty” Lester, an immigration lawyer in the Florida panhandle. For example, you’d think that a person who serves in the U.S. military would have an easy time getting citizenship; after all, that person has put his or her life on the line for… 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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