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Refugee Economic Contributions: Making the Case & Expanding
Opportunities
Fostering Community Engagement and Welcoming Communities is
supported by the
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR/ACF/DHHS)
March 18, 2015
Photo Credit: Nebraska is Home
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Todays Agenda1. Opening Remarks
Susan Downs-Karkos, Welcoming America
2. Opportunities for Regional Economic Growth and Programming
Opportunities
Steve Tobocman, Global Detroit
3. Economic Impact of RefugeesDanielle Drake, US Together
4. Promoting Economic Self-SufficiencySisay Teklu, Community
Enterprises Development Services
5. Moderated Discussion
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Global Detroit
Refugee Economic Contributions: Making the Case and
Expanding
Economic Opportunity
Steve Tobocman, Director
www.globaldetroit.com@GlobalDET
http://www.globaldetroit.com/
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Global Network: Leading Rustbelt Immigrant Innovation
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REFUGEE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS:
IMMIGRANTS REPRESENT
OPPORTUNITIES FOR REGIONAL
ECONOMIC GROWTH
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THE NEW AMERICAN FORTUNE 500:
MORE THAN 40% OFFORTUNE 500
COMPANIES WERE FOUNDED BY
IMMIGRANTS ORTHEIR CHILDREN
23% FOUNDED BY CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS
18% FOUNDED BY IMMIGRANTS
41% NEW AMERICANCOMPANIES
SOURCE: Partnership Report, The New American Fortune 500, June
2011.
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28 Percent of Main Street
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HIGH-TECH STARTUPS
Created 25% of all high-tech
firms nationally from 1995-2005 52% of Silicon Valleys high-tech
firms from
1995-2005
--Duke University and UC-Berkeley
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Successful Venture Capital Backed Firms
SUCCESSFUL VENTURE CAPITAL BACKED FIRMS
Account for 25% of all
venture-backed firms that
have had public offerings
1995-2005
National Venture Capital Association
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STEM Skills and DegreesSTEM 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
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REFUGEE ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS:
PROGRAM OPPORTUNITIES
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Creating a
Dynamic
Inner City
Business
Model
Northside*Urban*Partnership**November*5,*2014*
Business assistance
!
!
!
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
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CONNECTOR PROGRAMS
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FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (EB-5
INVESTOR VISA) AND EXPORT
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SKILLED IMMIGRANT
INTEGRATION INITIATIVES
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IMPRINT
IMPRINT is a national coalition
of nonprofit groups dedicated to
advancing opportunities for
skilled immigrants.
IMPRINT:
Advocates for effective policies
to support workforce integration
at the national, state, and local
level
Disseminates promising
practices and new resources for
practitioners
www.imprintproject.org
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Community College Consortium for
Immigrant Education www.cccie.org
Upwardly Global
www.upwardlyglobal.org
World Education Services
www.wes.org/gtb
Welcoming Center for New
Pennsylvanians
www.welcomingcenter.org
Welcome Back Initiative
www.welcomebackinitiative.org
http://www.imprintproject.org
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BY 2018, THE U.S. WILL FACE A
PROJECTED SHORTFALL OF
230,000 STEM WORKERS
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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.
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Economic
Impact of
Refugees
Danielle Drake
[email protected]
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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.
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RSC
The RSC now has 14 member
organizations, including Clevelands 3
refugee resettlement agencies. The RSCs
focus is to coordinate the work of its
member agencies, which includes
capacity building across organizations as
an integral part of this process.
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Economic Impact Study
Paid for by a grant from the Cleveland
Foundation
Conducted by Chmura Economics &
Analytics
For calendar year 2012
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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.
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Cleveland's refugee families tend to attain self-sufficiency
sooner than refugees in other cities.
Refugees find jobs! About 75 percent of Cuyahoga countys
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 Contribute
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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.
Refugees Thrive
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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.
Economic Impacts
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Whats that Number?
10 to 1 Return on Investment?!
"These are on par with venture capital
type returns," Daniel Meges (economist
who led the research)
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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
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Refugee Summit
October 30th 2014
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200 people in attendance!
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Dream Neighborhood
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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.
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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.
More Logistics
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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
Collaborative Effort
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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
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Next Steps
Public Awareness Campaign
Films highlighting Refugee Success stories
June 20th World Refugee Day
Celebration
Speaking Engagements
Meeting with
funders/donors/mentors/volunteers
Create Dream Neighborhoods in others
area of Cleveland
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Questions/Comments?
www.RSCcleveland.org
Danielle Drake
[email protected]
http://www.rsccleveland.org/mailto:[email protected]
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Promotes Economic Self-Sufficiency
SISAY TEKLU
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cedsfinance.org
mailto:[email protected]
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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.
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Clients come from all over
the world
Our clients are coming from
all over the World
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
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Borrowers and Outcomes
Borrowers' ProfileBorrowers are newcomers
(refugees) from all over the
World
Types of business: transport,
ethnic grocery and restaurant,
day care, beauty salon,
accounting service, Auto shop,
etc
Amount of investment: not more
than $50,000.00
Employment: basically self
employment
OUTCOMESAverage earning before starting
business $9.00/hour ($9.00 *40
hours*4 weeks*12 months =
$17,280).
Earning after starting business
taking taxi cab business as
example: $5000.00/month
*12= $60,000.00 (gross
income)
The refugee entrepreneur
becomes self-employed & tax
payer.
We work withDaycare and Home Health Care Providers
Taxi/Uber/Truck drivers
Store and Restaurant Owners
Professional services Accountants, IT, etc
Cleaning Service Providers
Hairstylists
Auto Mechanics
and MORE!
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Borrowers
Uber Taxi
Ethnic Restaurant
Hood Cleaning
Insurance Business
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LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Disbursed in total 60 loans in the amount of $685,000 (2011
2014)
Maintained 100% loan repayment.
HOW?
Pre loan and post loan TA, including training
Quality loan underwriting
Personal relationship with each borrower
Presence in the community be active in the community
Effective usage of co-signers and references
Encourage borrowers for another round loan
Follow latest developments change and intent to change or quit
business and be flexible to accommodate.
Know your limits and support clients to graduate from
micro-loan
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Individual Development
Account (IDA)
The goal of the refugee IDA program is to help
low-income refugee individuals and families
attain economic/financial self-sufficiency
through behavioral change from consumption on
impulse to prudent savings and investing to
acquire assets and/or acquire skills.
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Why? Refugees cant attain the desired asset development on their
own
What Resources needed Objective limitations
Income to own assets *$5000 to own vehicle
*$5000 to be pharmacy technician
*$10,000 to own taxi cab business
*$5500 to own home
Covering the specified costs for a
recently arrived working refugee is
almost impossible. A minimum wage of
$8.23/hr. is barely enough to cover
basic needs let alone to own assets
Financial education and TA Access to mainstream financial
education and technical assistance
resources
Without culturally and linguistically
appropriate financial education and TA
a recently arrived refugee cannot
benefit from available mainstream
services.
Access to finance Access to mainstream loan capital to
acquire wealth enabling assets
Recently arrived refugees cant get
access to finance due to lack of equity,
credit history, collateral, and business
work experience in the US, coupled
with linguistic and cultural limitations.
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How? The ORR- IDA can promote Asset development and Economic
Self-sufficiency What IDA Program Intervention Additional
Resources
Income to
own assets
IDA saving and matching:
$5000 to own private vehicle
$4500 pharmacy technician certificate
$10,000 to own taxi cab business
$5500 to own home
Vehicle: to be purchased by combining IDA
matched savings and low interest lending
partners.
Education: the total of matching and saving
can cover the program cost. Financial aid is
available if necessary
Business: our micro loan program is a key
catalyst to promote business and cover the
difference
Home: an amount above the total of saving
and matching can be covered by Colorado
Housing and Finance Authority (CHAFA) and
sometimes by seller
Training
and TA
Community Enterprise is equipped and uses customized,
culturally and linguistically appropriate curriculum and
trainers.
Community Enterprise will leverage its existing
base of trained volunteer financial education
and asset goal trainers.
Access to
finance
Refugees can predominantly cover the need for finance
from the total of their IDA savings and matching.
Our micro-loan program is positioned to
finance business asset goals.
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Vehicle- 39%
Business-27%
Home-17%
Education- 17%
Asset Ownership
Vehicle
Business
Home
Education
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LEARNING EXPERIENCE
2010 2014 -
Assisted 310 low income refugees to own assets (53 homes, 83
businesses, 52 education and 122 vehicles)
$930,000 clients savings available for matching
Amount of money mobilized in the economy $10,140,000
18 refugees were also borrowers of the micro-enterprise loan
(Synergy I)
9 women refugees who bought homes are also enrolled in the home
based childcare (Synergy II)
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Home based child care
Objectives
Train and incentivize refugee women and men to establish
high-
quality, licensed childcare businesses that promote healthy
child
development behaviors and create well-paying self-employment
opportunities for refugee women and men.
Link newly arrived refugee parents with culturally
appropriate
childcare businesses, thereby allowing them to seek
employment
opportunities.
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Home based childcare
Current Performance and challenges
CEDS has 14 licensed home based childcare businesses.
21 enrolled clients are in the process to be licensed
Challenge: all childcare program clients are recently arrived,
culturally different and low academic background. CEDS is facing
tremendous challenges to walk clients through the licensing
process.
Strict rules and regulations: Colorados strict childcare rules
and regulations is a major factor for many refugee clients not to
be eligible.
As compared to other ventures, childcare service is financially
not attractive.
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Childcare BusinessesLearning Area - Licensed Learning Area -
Licensed
Infant Area LicensedParent Communication
Licensed
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Financial Education
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Promotes Economic Self-Sufficiency
SISAY TEKLU
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cedsfinance.org
mailto:[email protected]
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Moderated Discussion
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Additional Resources
We Global Network Resources
-http://www.weglobalnetwork.org/research/
Global Detroit Resources -
http://www.globaldetroit.com/research/
Economic Impact of Refugees in the Cleveland Area Report
-http://rsccleveland.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ClevelandRefugeeEconomic-Impact.pdf
IDA Practitioners Guide, ISED
solutionshttp://www.isedsolutions.org/publications/refugee-ida/ida-practitoners-guide-forms
http://www.weglobalnetwork.org/research/http://www.globaldetroit.com/research/http://rsccleveland.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ClevelandRefugeeEconomic-Impact.pdfhttp://www.isedsolutions.org/publications/refugee-ida/ida-practitoners-guide-forms
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Additional Resources
Welcoming Refugees Website www.welcomingrefugees.org
Coming Soon -
A Guide to Immigrant Economic Development Toolkit
http://www.welcomingrefugees.org/
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Speaker Contacts
Steve Tobocman, Global Detroit [email protected]
Danielle Drake, US Together [email protected]
Sisay Teklu, Community Enterprises Development Services
[email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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Join Us!Deeper Dialogue
Thursday, March 26, 2015 @ 3:00pm Eastern
To join us, send an email to [email protected]
with
Name:
Organization:
Location:
What you would most like to discuss during the call:
mailto:[email protected]
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Thank you for joining us today!
Fostering Community Engagement and Welcoming Communities is
supported by the
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR/ACF/DHHS)
