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.
‘We Aren’t Protecting Ourselves When We Shun Talented, Hardworking People,’ Says Immigrant Entrepreneur
When he was 16, George Fernandez was forced to translate a devastating medical diagnosis to his mother, who didn’t speak English. “The doctor came in and told me she had cancer. I had to explain to her what this was and what was going to happen to her. I didn’t… Read More
Chamber VP Sees Firsthand How Immigrant Businesses Stimulate the Economy
Gilda Ramirez knows how much immigrants have to contribute to the United States. Her father was born in Mexico but grew up undocumented in Texas. Just after he received a letter of deportation, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and went to fight in Germany during World War II. Read More
Andrés Moreno Founded the Largest Online English School. Let’s Welcome More People Like Him
At the age of 25, with just $700 in his pocket, Venezuelan-born Andrés Moreno booked a flight to Silicon Valley, California. It was the right move at the right time for the young man. In Menlo Park, Moreno raised money from angel investors, slept on friends’ sofas and spent two… Read More
Starting a Promising Firm Didn’t Insulate this Iranian Scientist from Visa Worries
In 2004, Mehdi Yazdanpanah triggered a chemical reaction in a University of Louisville lab that, to his surprise, created tiny, metallic points. Intrigued, he devised a way to form individual needles – microscopic in size, yet conductive and strong, a unique combination that could advance cancer and other microscopic research. Read More
Ohio Entrepreneur Shares his Reason for Reform
Abe Miller co-owns an apparel embroidery and design business in Cleveland, Ohio. He supports immigration reform because he feels a connection between his largely Chinese workforce and his own immigrant grandparents who came to the United States from Eastern Europe. When Abe Miller looks out over his apparel factory in… Read More
Editor of Iowa’s Largest Spanish-Language Newspaper Living Proof of Value Undocumented Immigrants Bring to Rural America
As founder and editor of La Prensa, Iowa’s largest Spanish-language newspaper, Lorena Lopez has interviewed everyone from former President Barack Obama to former Governor Jeb Bush and become a sought-after expert on Iowa’s increasingly influential Latino voters. Lopez has plenty of experience: She worked for 11 years as… Read More
Immigrants Have an ‘Enormous Work Ethic,’ Says Acclaimed Documentarian and Entrepreneur
In 2011, photographer and documentarian Jesus Ramirez was asked to help produce a special about the Mexican Revolution, to highlight the untold historic contributions brought to the United States by Mexicans fleeing their country. The goal was a single hourlong episode, but the order quickly grew to 20 independent… Read More
Top Event Producer Thanks Ronald Reagan for Helping Him Realize His Dreams
Ricardo Luna’s mother always believed her son would become a successful entrepreneur, but she never could have guessed that less than 10 years after leaving Zacatecas, Mexico, he’d be hired to produce events for elite corporate and star-studded clientele, including the Grammy Awards. Luna came to the United States when… Read More
Successful Foreign-Born CEO Explains Why Immigrant-Run Franchises Almost Never Fail
Ask any Hawaiian about L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, a fast-food chain ubiquitous on the islands and the West Coast, and they can likely tell you about its traditional plate lunches complete with heaping scoops of macaroni salad. What they might not know is the company has more than 200 franchise locations,… Read More
Successful Education Startup Faces Challenges as Founders Straddle Three Continents
Thomas Ketchell hopes to transform America’s education system through a simple digital platform. The Belgian native is the CEO and co-founder of HSTRY, a tool that allows students and educators to create free interactive timelines—similar to those on Facebook or Twitter—documenting historical events. Ketchell first came up with the concept… 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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