Attracting Immigrant Entrepreneurs As An Economic Strategy

At www.burghdiaspora.blogspot.com, I read a very interesting article about an effort underway in Ohio to attract immigrant entrepreneurs.

Vivek Wadhwa, a software entrepreneur who is also an executive in residence at Duke University and a Fellow at Harvard Law School's Labor and Worklife Program, has been helping a group of Ohio civic, academic and business leaders brainstorm ways to jump-start the region's economy.

There is currently a world wide competition to attract talented people to companies and communities. In today's economy based on innovation and new ideas, the companies and communities that are successful in attracting talented people reap economic benefit.

From 1995 to 2005, 52 percent of the high-tech and engineering start-up firms in the Silicon Valley had an immigrant as CEO or as the chief technological officer. Nationally about 26 percent of high-tech or engineering start-ups had an immigrant as CEO or as chief technological officer. Wadhwa's research indicates that upwards of 1 million highly educated and skilled immigrants are in the U.S. legally on visas that they hope will lead to green cards and permanent status.

Due to the crazy immigration policies of the U.S. which highly restricts the number of green cards, many highly educated and skilled immigrants must wait ten years or more to obtain permanent status. Many give up in frustration and return home to India or China, creating new businesses that could have been started right here in the U.S.

Wadhwa is encouraging Cleveland officials to create a sanctuary zone for skilled immigrants. In the Cleveland Plain Dealer Wadhwa stated "There are tens of thousands of skilled immigrants ready to become entrepreneurs, if Cleveland could declare itself a sanctuary zone for skilled immigrants, you might get a few hundred immigrant entrepreneurs there. Just think what several hundred tech start-ups would do for Cleveland. You could put a rocket ship on the economy."

Wadhwa's idea is to use a legal way to jump the green card line. The EB-5, or investor visa, program offers foreign nationals a chance to get provisional green cards for themselves and their immediate family members if they invest $500,000 in a high unemployment area. If those investments create at least 10 jobs for American workers, the green cards become permanent. Legally 10,000 green cards a year are available through this program, but in 2007 only 803 green cards were awarded through the program.

Wadhwa is encouraging Cleveland to put together a marketing pitch to immigrants located in tech heavy areas like the Silicon Valley and Boston to encourage them to take advantage of low cost of living, without 2 hour commutes, access to universities and quality labor, incubator space and venture capital combined with the benefit of obtaining a green card.

The effort needs a champion, whose sole job is to drive recruitment and line up the necessary resources. Imagine the impact of subsidizing an effort to attract the energy and talents of individual entrepreneurs instead of spending millions as we do now on pursuing an individual company.

I like the idea of pursuing this approach in Buffalo, what do you think?

Comments

[Lobster]

A very interesting and informative article - You can count me as one of those people who was not interested in the idea of staying 10 years in the US to gain permanent residency. I decided to go back to India and help my father expand his business in India and Asia.