Ethiopian Immigrants Motivated to Expand Home Healthcare Business
Abe Dalu, who is from Oromia, Ethiopia, has a PhD in toxicology and experience in preclinical drug safety assessment. His wife, Aster, also from Oromia, Ethiopia, is a registered nurse. So when the pair decided to launch their own business—Dalu’s layoff during the Recession motivated them to seek firmer control… Read More
Nursing Home Staffed by Immigrants Fills Urgent Healthcare Needs
John Barker bought the bankrupt Commonwealth Care Center, a nursing home in northwest St. Paul, in 1991 and vowed to “make it a place people wanted to come to.” He spent years upgrading the facility, adding two floors, dozens of private rooms, and modern air conditioning and heating. He renamed… Read More
Thai Immigrant Brings Years of Restaurant Experience to St. Paul
Yuwadee Poophakumpanart first visited the United States in 2005. Her brother, also from Thailand, had married an American woman and was living in St. Paul, as was her sister. She liked the city, and, after spending some time walking neighborhoods peppered with immigrant businesses, decided that not only did she… Read More
After a Career in Computer Science, Cambodian Immigrant Focuses on Community
In 1978, after receiving a computer science degree from American University in Washington, D.C., Pasin Chanou knew that he could not return to his native Cambodia. Three years earlier, the Khmer Rouge had brutally gained power and threatened his family’s gemstone business. His parents feared for their lives and fled… Read More
Grand Rapids Business Journal: Report documents immigrant contributions
Grand Rapids community leaders agreed making immigrants feel like they belong in Kent County not only is right but is economically smart. Foreign-born residents of Kent County contributed $3.3 billion to the county’s GDP in 2016, according to a report presented Sept. 12 by the local Gateways for Growth Project,… Read More
Foreign-Born Residents Contributed $3.3 Billion to Kent County GDP in 2016
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Immigrants in Kent County contributed $3.3 billion to the county’s GDP in 2016 and paid $214 million in federal taxes and $102 million in state and local taxes, according to a new report by New American Economy (NAE), in partnership with Samaritas, the City of… Read More
Filipino Immigrant Brings High Fashion to Grand Rapids
When pressed, Romel “RC” Caylan, a rising design star, may describe himself as a kind of fashion ambassador for Grand Rapids. Truth be told, he simply loves the city, and honors the journey that brought him to this corner of Michigan. Caylan was born in Iligan City and raised in… Read More
Entrepreneur from Argentina Helps Keep Jobs in Michigan
Natalia Kovicak was 22 when she met her future husband on a beach in Mexico. She had a bachelor’s degree in human resources and public relations from the University of Palermo and a good job with the Coca-Cola company in Buenos Aires. She had also launched her own event-planning business. Read More
Entrepreneurs Raised in Mexico Give Back through Business Training
Although Ruben Ramos was born in the United States, his family returned to their village in the Sierra Madre Mountains, in Mexico, when he was a baby. When they moved back to the States—to Chicago then Grand Rapids—Ramos was 10 years old and didn’t know a word of English. “I… Read More
Grocery Business Started by Indian Immigrants Thrives in Grand Rapids
When Sonal and Ramesh Patel built a house in Cascade, in southeast Grand Rapids, in 2011, they quickly noticed something missing: an Asian grocer on that side of town. The couple, from a small town in Gujarat, in western India, had been in West Michigan since 2004, when Ramesh was… Read More
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