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.
Immigration laws should strengthen US, not its rivals
Yesterday marked the close of the five-day filing period when U.S. companies could apply for H-1B visas to bring high-skilled workers from around the world to work here next year. The annual cap was exceeded in those few days, and a lottery will be held to determine which workers… Read More
Getting a Visa Took Longer Than Building Instagram, Says Immigrant Co-Founder
Instagram almost didn’t happen, and the U.S.’s convoluted immigration system would have been to blame. Before Mike Krieger created the wildly popular photo-sharing app with business partner Kevin Systrom, he was living in Silicon Valley on a temporary work visa. If not for some lucky breaks navigating the country’s immigration process,… Read More
HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN CALIFORNIA
Learn more about the need for high-skilled immigration reform at www.LetPJStay.com CALIFORNIA FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 1.4 STEM job openings were posted online in California for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the… Read More
German Immigrant Invents Cutting Edge Genetic Technology – and Still Faces U.S. Immigration Issues
Jonas Korlach, a United States-based biochemist, says that as a young man, he never would’ve predicted the path his life would take in adulthood. Growing up in East Germany, he was just 16 years old when the Berlin Wall fell, opening up a whole new universe just 15 minutes from… Read More
Statement on U.S. Government Exhausting Supply of H-1B Visas in Less Than a Week
CONTACT Ryan Williams, Partnership for a New American Economy, [email protected] Following the announcement by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that they reached the congressionally mandated H-1B cap for 2016, Partnership for a New American Economy Chairman John Feinblatt issued the following statement:… Read More
U.S. Companies Say H-1B Hires Are “Critical” to Success
CHICAGO, IL–(Marketwired – Apr 7, 2015) – Nothing highlights the skills gap more than the race to submit H-1B visa applications. In a survey of nearly 100 U.S. companies that seek skilled workers and collectively employ more than 116,000, 50 percent of the companies consider hiring foreign nationals for U.S. Read More
Immigration ceiling hit in one week
The U.S. government will begin doling out high-skilled worker visas through a lottery system after applications exceeded the cap a week after the enrollment period began. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said Tuesday that the 65,000 cap on new applications for skilled visas had already been hit for the… Read More
America Has a Foreign Worker Problem
Each year, the first week of April is a stressful one for thousands of would-be employees in America. Often, these workers have graduated from top-tier colleges and had the chops to get noticed by businesses all across the United States. They accepted job offers and made plans to start their… Read More
HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS IN ARIZONA
Learn more about the need for high-skilled immigration reform at www.LetPJStay.com ARIZONA FACES A LARGE STEM SHORTAGE There are more STEM job openings than unemployed STEM workers: From 2009 to 2011, 1.7 STEM job openings were posted online in Arizona for every 1 unemployed STEM worker in the… Read More
Cyprus Native Develops Groundbreaking Glass Technology at U.S. School
Marios Demetriou, a senior research associate at Caltech, is one of the school’s major recent successes. Demetriou, a Greek from Cyprus, originally came to the United States in the 1990s as an undergraduate to study mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona. Almost immediately, he says he felt his attitude… 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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