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 reform: recognize contributions by making the system work
St. Patrick’s Day is not simply a holiday to celebrate Irish heritage; it’s also a celebration of the immigration of many Irishmen and women to the shores of our country. From America’s founding, immigrants from a vast array of countries have been a central cornerstone of our nation’s incredible economic… Read More
Report: Immigration Bill Would Add Nearly 14,000 Jobs Per District
August 20, 2013 Jordan Fabian, ABC News The Senate’s immigration bill would add nearly 14,000 new jobs on average in each congressional district over the next decade, according to a new report. The new analysis is from the center-right American Action Network (AAN), which backs an overhaul of the… Read More
Immigration reform can let N.Y. benefit from world’s skills
Cornell University President David J. Skorton, Press Connects A growing number of Americans are coming around to an idea that the tech industry and other business groups have been promoting for quite a while: To fuel economic growth, especially in the tech sector, we need to make it easier for… Read More
Paul Ryan: Immigrants ‘Bring Labor to Our Economy So Jobs Can Get Done’
Nancy Cook, The National Journal July 25, 2013 In the past month, Rep. Paul Ryan, normally so focused on fiscal matters, has shifted his attention to immigration. He isn’t pitching reform as a humanitarian or budget-cutting move, though other advocates say it would be both. Instead, the House Budget Committee… Read More
For Indian engineers, H-1B visa is key to career growth
Rama Lakshmi, The Washington Post BANGALORE, India — For the past three years, 32-year-old Jagadish Kumar has worked in India testing software systems before they are installed in slot machines in American casinos. Now the curly-haired, round-eyed Indian software engineer is weeks away from appearing for a U.S. Consulate visa… Read More
Intro: Entrepreneurship
Immigrants have consistently demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit and propensity to create new businesses. For example, immigrants are more than twice as likely as native-born citizens to start new businesses, and 28 percent of all U.S. companies started in 2011 had immigrant founders – despite immigrants comprising roughly 13 percent of the… Read More
Tech firms launching ‘Keep Us Here’ project to build support for immigration bill
The Washington Post As the Senate begins debating a bipartisan immigration bill this week, a coalition of technology firms and larger special interest groups is launching a new way for people to directly contact lawmakers as the debate continues. Engine Advocacy, a coalition of tech firms including Google, Firefox and… Read More
Immigration made U.S. world’s best startup
The Fresno Bee Immigration is pure entrepreneurship. You leave behind everything familiar to start somewhere new. To succeed, you need to develop alliances. You must acquire skills. You will have to improvise on occasion. It’s a bold proposition. Immigration is also fundamental to the U.S. national identity — as the… Read More
Why VCs and Foreign Founders Want the ‘Entrepreneur Visa’
Wall Street Journal June 5, 2013 Immigration challenges plague foreign entrepreneurs who want to build startups in the U.S. Beyond worrying about individual visa status, a founder has to worry about tax laws in the U.S., and for example, predict how a requirement to repatriate proceeds may impact a company’s… Read More
The Business Plan for American Revival
Wall Street Journal November 13, 2012 Four years ago, it was said that the incoming Obama administration aspired to the dynamic that existed in Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet, where former competitors and antagonists came together to help the country through the Civil War. If Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals”… 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
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
