Refugee Economic Contributions: Making the Case & Expanding Opportunities March 18, 2015 Photo Credit: Nebraska is Home Fostering Community Engagement and Welcoming Communities is supported by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR/ACF/DHHS)
Today’s Agenda 1. Opening Remarks Susan Downs-Karkos, Welcoming America 2. Opportunities for Regional Economic Growth and Programming Opportunities Steve Tobocman, Global Detroit 3. Economic Impact of Refugees Danielle Drake, US Together 4. Promoting Economic Self-Sufficiency Sisay Teklu, Community Enterprises Development Services 5. Moderated Discussion
Global Detroit Refugee Economic Contributions: Making the Case and Expanding Economic Opportunity Steve Tobocman, Director www.globaldetroit.com @GlobalDET
Global Network: Leading Rustbelt Immigrant Innovation
REFUGEE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS: IMMIGRANTS REPRESENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH
THE ‘NEW AMERICAN’ FORTUNE 500: MORE THAN 40% OF FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES WERE FOUNDED BY IMMIGRANTS OR THEIR CHILDREN 23% FOUNDED BY CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS 18% FOUNDED BY IMMIGRANTS “NEW AMERICAN” 41% COMPANIES SOURCE: Partnership Report, “ The New American Fortune 500, ” June 2011.
28 Percent of Main Street
HIGH-TECH STARTUPS Created 25% of all high-tech firms nationally from 1995-2005 – 52% of Silicon Valley’s high -tech firms from 1995-2005 --Duke University and UC-Berkeley
Successful Venture Capital Backed SUCCESSFUL VENTURE CAPITAL BACKED FIRMS Firms Account for 25% of all venture-backed firms that have had public offerings 1995-2005 National Venture Capital Association
STEM SKILLS AND DEGREES STEM Skills and Degrees • International students are 3 times (38% vs. 14%) as likely to major in STEM fields • Immigrants make up: – 50% of all new U.S. Ph.D.s in engineering; – 45% of all new U.S. Ph.D.s in life sciences, physical sciences, and computer sciences; – 40% of all new U.S. master degrees in computer sciences, physical sciences, and engineering; and – 25% of all practicing physicians
REFUGEE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS: PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
CONNECTOR PROGRAMS
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (EB-5 INVESTOR VISA) AND EXPORT
SKILLED IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION INITIATIVES
IMPRINT MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education www.cccie.org IMPRINT is a national coalition Upwardly Global of nonprofit groups dedicated to www.upwardlyglobal.org advancing opportunities for skilled immigrants. World Education Services www.wes.org/gtb IMPRINT: Welcoming Center for New Advocates for effective policies Pennsylvanians to support workforce integration www.welcomingcenter.org at the national, state, and local level Welcome Back Initiative www.welcomebackinitiative.org Disseminates promising practices and new resources for practitioners www.imprintproject.org
BY 2018, THE U.S. WILL FACE A PROJECTED SHORTFALL OF 230,000 STEM WORKERS
IMMIGRANTS CREATE JOBS FOR U.S. WORKERS Every Foreign STEM Worker With an Advanced U.S. Degree Creates 2.62 American Jobs Source: Partnership and American Enterprise Institute Report, “Immigration and American Jobs,” December 2012.
Economic Impact of Refugees Danielle Drake ddrake@ustogether.us
Refugee Services Collaborative The Refugee Services Collaborative of Greater Cleveland (RSC) grew out of years of dialogue among the many refugee service agencies. Formed in 2011, the RSC launched a full calendar of joint activities in January 2012 as a result of a generous Cleveland Foundation grant. This grant enabled the collaborative to deepen and broaden its work together with monthly hands-on meetings, professional development, collection and sharing of benchmark data, and commissioning of an economic impact study.
RSC The RSC now has 14 member organizations, including Cleveland’s 3 refugee resettlement agencies. The RSC’s focus is to coordinate the work of its member agencies, which includes capacity building across organizations as an integral part of this process.
Economic Impact Study Paid for by a grant from the Cleveland Foundation Conducted by Chmura Economics & Analytics For calendar year 2012
Summary of Findings Three resettlement agencies spend about $4.8 million a year helping refugees to start new lives in the Cleveland area. From that investment of mostly federal dollars comes an annual economic impact of nearly $50 million. Refugees placed in the Cleveland area typically find employment within five months of their arrival in the country despite the fact that many lack English proficiency.
Cleveland's refugee families tend to attain self-sufficiency sooner than refugees in other cities. Refugees find jobs! About 75 percent of Cuyahoga county’s refugees over age 16 are employed, compared to 57 percent of the general population. Refugees are 23 percent more likely to start a business than native-born residents and have started more than 40 small businesses in CLE in the last decade.
Refugees tend to put down roots and spark secondary migrations, attracting others from their cultures as they succeed. About 250 refugees have bought houses in the area. Refugees are thriving in Cleveland and are at or above average compared to national norms in socioeconomic integration.
The member organizations of the RSC spent an estimated total of $4.8 million on refugee services in 2012. The total economic impact of refugees in the Cleveland area was estimated at $48 million and 650 jobs for 2012. The total fiscal impact of refugees in the Cleveland area was estimated at $2.7 million in tax revenue to local and state governments in 2012.
What’s that Number? 10 to 1 Return on Investment?! "These are on par with venture capital type returns," Daniel Meges (economist who led the research)
Spread the News! October 2013 – Press Release stating the findings of the economic impact study June 2014 - RSC receives additional grant money funding for Public Awareness campaign October 2014 – Refugee Summit Held at Cleveland City Hall
Refugee Summit October 30 th 2014
200 people in attendance!
Dream Neighborhood
As of January 2015, there are 53 active foreclosures. There are 145 vacant properties; 88 of which are condemned. Through a collaborative effort with the City of Cleveland, these properties will be pushed to demolition and condemnation while engaging in a program to acquire 20 vacant and abandoned homes each year within the targeted area.
These properties will then be marketed to a group of pre-screened investors with a sales price of $5,000. A subsidy of $30,000 from the City of Cleveland is being requested to aid with the rehabilitation. Upon completion of the rehabilitation, investors will be required to rent to refugees through a restrictive covenant.
Through the collaborative effort of the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton & Brooklyn Centre Community Development Office and its partners, wrap around services will be provided to both investors and refugees to provide support to both parties. CLeveland Councilmen Councilman Joe Cimperman Ward 3 Councilman Brian Cummins Ward 14 Councilman Matt Zone Ward 15
Additional Support February 2015 – Meeting with Director of Economic Development Additional Money granted to ECDI specifically for refugees to start businesses Money granted to commission creation of a 5 year Strategic Plan for the Dream Neighborhood
Next Steps Public Awareness Campaign Films highlighting Refugee Success stories June 20 th – World Refugee Day Celebration Speaking Engagements Meeting with funders/donors/mentors/volunteers Create Dream Neighborhoods in others area of Cleveland
Questions/Comments? www.RSCcleveland.org Danielle Drake ddrake@ustogether.us
Promotes Economic Self-Sufficiency SISAY TEKLU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Email: steklu@cedsfinance.org Website: www.cedsfinance.org
Mission The Mission of Community Enterprise Development Services (CEDS) is to assist refugees/asylees in particular and low-to- moderate income Denver metro residents in general attain economic self-sufficiency through asset ownership, business ownership and financial literacy services.
Our clients are coming from all over the World Clients come from all over the world
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
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