Industries
Granting Legal Status Would Reduce Gang Crime and Help Economy, Says Prominent Houston Businessman
Stan Marek knows a thing or two about Houston. The long-time Republican is the CEO of the Marek Family of Companies, a group of construction businesses that stretch back nearly 80 years. “My grandparents built this business around developing a skilled labor force and working hard,” he says. Marek takes… Read More
California Peach Canning Association CEO Warns of Industry Decline Without Immigration Reform
Rich Hudgins, the CEO of the California Peach Canning Association, has seen the state’s peach acreage decline by nearly 30 percent in the last decade—a troubling trend he attributes to U.S. immigration policy. “California’s peach acreage has declined by nearly 40 percent in the last decade because growers have… Read More
DACA Recipient Teaches So He Can Give Back to the Community That Welcomed Him
When Julian Cortes was eight years old, his father began receiving death threats from corrupt individuals who worked in his company. Fearing for their safety, the family moved from their native Colombia to Redmond, Washington. “We came on tourist visas and when those expired, we were undocumented,” Cortes… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Creates Jobs and Opportunity for American Workers in Greenville
When Mexican native Ruben Montalvo first came to the United States at age 24, he was so sure his visit was temporary that he kept an open return ticket home. As valedictorian from his university, where he had received an engineering degree, he’d been reluctant to leave his cushy… Read More
Study: Immigrants Founded 51% of U.S. Billion-Dollar Startups
A new non-partisan study on entrepreneurship gives some credence to the tech industry’s stance that American innovation benefits from robust immigration. The study from the National Foundation for American Policy, a non-partisan think tank based in Arlington, Va., shows that immigrants started more than half of the current crop… Read More
Idaho Veterinarian Sees Troubling Labor Challenges in Clients’ Businesses
Elizabeth Kohtz grew up on a family farm in Idaho where her father relied on migrant workers to keep the dairy running. Immigration policy limited his access to workers. Today, Kohtz works as a dairy veterinarian and sees the same troubling labor challenges play out in her clients’ businesses. When… Read More
Immigrants Make it Possible for Manufacturing Giant to Stay in Ohio — and Create American Jobs
When Atlapac, a manufacturer of plastic bags, was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1986, it was a small company: Only three machines and five employees. Today, its 60 machines and 80 employees manufacture 380 million bags a year. Chances are, you’ve got Atlapac bags in your home. Nestle dog treats?… Read More
When Undocumented Immigrants Are Targeted, American Consumers Lose, Says Chamber Executive
Francisco Treviño, President and CEO of the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, remembers what happened in 2007 when the Oklahoma state legislature passed one of the country’s most punitive immigration laws. Called the Oklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act, the law went so far as to target U.S. citizens,… Read More
Cleveland Clinic, Bolstered by Immigrant Healthcare Professionals, Gets a Top Specialist Once Rejected for his ‘Foreign’ Last Name
Even as one of America’s most accomplished physicians — a man considered an international leader in the field of pediatric pulmonary medicine — Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte has sometimes been stigmatized for his immigrant status. Years ago, for example, after he’d been offered a dual executive-professorial position at a prestigious… Read More
Child of Mexican Restaurant Owners Helps Build Houston’s Next Generation of Business Leaders
In 2007, when Laura Murillo became president and CEO of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the organization had just two employees and was in financial peril, about to lose its lease. Under her guidance, it is now the largest Hispanic chamber of commerce in the country, with 4,200 members,… Read More
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