Immigrant-owned Small Businesses Ring up $4.4 Billion in New Jersey

Whether personally or ancestrally, we, as a country, are all immigrants. Just look at your surname or ask your grandmother.

We heard Lady Liberty’s bidding and we swarmed from all corners of the globe to her shores to escape subjugation, persecution or economic hardships.

Once in America, immigrants soon discovered that contrary to rumors its streets aren’t paved with gold. Lacking English-language skills and comprehensive legal status, they were compelled to fend for themselves. As they struggled to build a better life for themselves and their families, the new settlers, as a consequence, made vast contributions to their adopted homeland.

More often than not, these immigrants opened small businesses in order to make ends meet. And their successes and achievements multiplied. So much so that today small businesses that are owned by immigrants have become the cornerstone of New Jersey’s economy, according to a new report released by the Trenton-based New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP).

At a press call yesterday, New Jersey officials and immigrant businessmen shared their experiences and observations about being entrepreneurs in a foreign country.

These are the key findings of the report prepared by Erika Nava, NJPP policy analyst: 

• Despite making up only 22 percent of the state’s population, immigrants own 47 percent of New Jersey's Main Street businesses 
• New Jersey immigrants own a higher share of the state’s Main Street businesses than anywhere else in the nation other than California
• New Jersey immigrants own 31 percent of the state's small businesses and makeup 28 percent of the state labor force.
• New Jersey immigrants own a majority of businesses in nine key industries (including restaurants, grocery stores, and trucking).

“This report is proof that New Jersey’s immigrants are an asset not only to our state’s rich and diverse culture, but also to the broader economy,” observed Nava. “Immigrants in New Jersey own a higher share of Main Street businesses than in any other state not named California. These immigrant-owned businesses anchor local economies across the state, providing goods, services, and job opportunities in their respective communities. When immigrants come to this state, they do so not only to provide for their families, but to invest in New Jersey. Lawmakers should recognize the vital role that immigrants play in our economy and ensure state laws support them.”

The results of this report underscore a nationwide trend that immigrants are almost twice as likely to start new businesses as their native-born peers. In New Jersey, immigrant-owned businesses generate $4.4 billion in annual income, with $950 million coming from Main Street businesses.

That contribution alone is enough to startle any state politician into realizing that immigrant businessmen and women deserve as much support as possible for them to survive and flourish.

The state’s immigrant business owners are much more diverse than US-born business owners. They also own a diverse array of businesses: immigrant owners make up 8 out of 10 dry cleaners and 7 out of 10 grocery stores and bodegas. Further, immigrant entrepreneurs own 50 percent or more of the state’s household maintenance businesses, transportation services, nail salons, computer service centers, restaurants, and clothing stores.

To avoid confusion among non-immigrant entrepreneurs, I asked what qualifies a business to be regarded as an immigrant-owned business. I was told that the business owner must be foreign born and a recent arrival in the United States without citizenship. If the business owner is fortunate enough to grow his small company and pass it to his children who were born in the USA, then that firm ceases to be an immigrant-owned company and transitions to a minority-owned firm.

In addition to forming a business for his or her family’s financial security, the NJPP said there is mounting evidence that immigrants are also more likely to start and own small businesses because they face discrimination in the job market due to limited English proficiency and, sometimes, their citizenship status.

Indeed, job discrimination, exclusion, segregation and other similar illegal actions have been known to sink many potentially beneficial companies.

Because of their neighborhood nature, small businesses, especially those on Main Street, help neighborhoods stay economically active and, in some cases, revitalize cities experiencing population decline. Small businesses also help increase the local tax base and stimulate consumer spending in local economies. They also help local civic organizations, sports teams and houses of worship. If you don’t believe that, look at the walls of any dry cleaner or grocery store and note the different letters and photos that recognize their financial generosity.

“We also provide good jobs to our workers. We encourage our elected officials to support immigrant small business owners and to recognize our work and our contributions to the economy. Too often immigrants are shamed as stealing jobs. We are actually creating jobs across the Garden State. New Jersey should recognize our contributions by making it easier for immigrants to participate in our economy and support our families,” said Abril Hernandez, owner of Ay Chihuahua! In Passaic.

Passaic Mayor Hector Lora echoed that observation: “This report supports with hard numbers what anyone who has walked down Passaic Avenue or Main Street knows — that immigrant owned small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy here in Passaic and across New Jersey. Immigrant small businesses inject money into the local economy, help employ thousands of New Jerseyans, and provide critical services to our communities. Our state lawmakers must take into account the large contributions of immigrants to the Garden State as they make policies that impact us all.”

Everything is not rosy for immigrants when they decide to start their own businesses.

Lack of language skills is the most obvious. Then there are the lack of familiarity with the procedure for launching an enterprise even a small one; what applications are required; how to prepare business plans; where to turn for legal advice. A plea was heard from the participants for expanding driver’s licenses to all qualified drivers, regardless of immigration status.

These vital needs about launching a small business can easily be satisfied by getting the word out to immigrant-owned business owners that they should visit any one of the 12 New Jersey Small Business Development Centers. There they will be provided with a treasure chest of tools with which they can start a small business or expand it. And it’s not a onetime encounter. Their affiliation with the NJSBDC will last as long as they need it. The best part about it is that the information and hands-on consultative services are free.

The achievements and contributions to New Jersey’s economy by these latter-day Horatio Algers are even more confounding when you realize that they were done without official help. Imagine what can be attained with even a small helping hand.

For information about the NJSBDC, visit its website at www.njsbdc.com.

New Latina NGO Fights for Empowerment & Inclusion

There’s a new NGO in town that’s targeting companies that aren’t treating Latina women fairly.

If you belong to that nasty category of businesses, don’t scurry from sight. You won’t be selected for boycotts or other boisterous protests.

The primary weapon of this Short Hills, NJ-based non-profit organization, Latina Surge, is education.

“The message of Latina Surge is not to challenge in a negative way but challenge in a positive way,” explained Elisa Charters, who founded the group in 2015. “We would rather reward companies that come to the positive realization of inclusion.”

The issue isn’t only about parity in salaries – though it’s the keystone – but it’s also about parity in the executive board rooms of America. And it’s about empowering Latinas.

Charters, who formed Latina Surge on the basis of a variety of influences affecting her life, pointed out that today the civic and business landscapes aren’t as aggressive as they were a handful of years ago. The contemporary approach to achieving a goal is not in-your-face but rather it’s mellow.

“If a business person is not savvy enough to understand cultural intelligence, then he or she isn’t competitive in the marketplace,” she said.

Charters formulated this strategy early in her career. As a Latina, she empathized with her novias who are forced to endure unfair treatment and wages that are 47% less than others enjoyed. But she also understood that she couldn’t initiate changes until she passed a few life hurdles. The first one was getting an education. Afterward, she would be able to work for the good of her community or – as she said – give back.

“I could see what it meant to be given an opportunity for someone from an underserved community,” recalled Charters, who was the first in her family to graduate from college.

Ultimately, she received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in environmental science technology and society from New Jersey Institute of Technology and was hired by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Charters’ knowledge and skills helped her to be chosen for a management training program, which she described as an opportunity that led to other opportunities.

As she gained experience and seniority, she was invited to join an employee resource group call the Port Authority Hispanic Society that fostered professional and social development. As is her trait, Charters became active and ultimately was chosen to be its president. That’s when she saw that things aren’t always as nice as they seem.

“That opened my eyes to disparities. Things that I didn’t realize as a lower level employee but as president I could see and understand them,” she said.

Networking with other groups such as Asian and women’s, Charters assembled workers who began to discuss these disparities and lack of inclusion as various levels of management.

“We were measured against census data of the region but when you look at a breakout of where people of color where falling, we saw that we weren’t represented at the highest levels,” she remembered.

That’s when she learned that she could accomplish much more with honey than with vinegar.

“I learned how to negotiate inclusion into business plans,” she said. “In meeting with Port Authority officials we talked about the numbers and disparities and made recommendations for our inclusion.”

And this strategy succeeded. She said while she was at the Port Authority, the first Latino was appointed chief of police.

However, the mission wasn’t over. Charters then set her sights on resolving this unfairness toward her sorority of Latinas.

While she was pursuing additional studies at New York University and Columbia University, she learned about the world of non-governmental organizations and underwent an epiphany that she could right wrongs by working with civic groups. Charters reached out to other non-profits and community groups in New Jersey to learn how they address their issues.

“I sought to ensure that inclusion was happening not only in organizations and businesses but throughout society as well. That also led to cooperating with several New Jersey gubernatorial administrations,” she said.

Serving as her own valuable lesson, Charters strove to give back to the community because working for her family, friends and neighbors opened more opportunities for education and development.

Charters’ campaign was also meant empowering Latinas and women of color so they can advance and succeed through self-realization, education and development.

With the mojo “Surge to reward,” she observed that it is natural for women to be self-empowered.

“Women are buyers, they make purchasing decisions, and they should have knowledge about the companies that they’re buying from. Education, knowledge and information will lead to self-empowerment. Knowledge is power,” she emphasized, adding that women should reward those companies that support them holistically.

With success of both sides of this social structure – women and companies – rooted in education, Charters comprehended that diversity and inclusion can best be addressed and even mandated from the top down.

“Despite the value of employee-based negotiations about diversity and inclusion, if you have a champion in executive management that understands and empathizes with the value of fairness, then that company will have the highest competitive advantage in the marketplace,” she believes. Alternatively, working in an upward direction is ineffective and inefficient, she added.

Indeed, Charters emphasized, “corporate diversity and inclusion lead to better competitive advantage in the marketplace.”

And empowered consumers, women and Latinas tend to purchase from those companies.

The key is to devise a strategy that foresees collaborative meetings that drive continuous improvements in a non-aggressive manner, she indicated.

Charters has her work cut out for her as she raises Latinas’ awareness that their earning power is almost half of their counterparts in the workplace. She not only intends to have salaries raised but also to realign the composition of the executive management boardroom with an eye toward her novias.

Her NGO, Latina Surge, will drive the movement.

While the decision to establish the organization was easy, fulfilling it required additional education. Charters had to understand the organizational structure of a non-profit and what it can and can’t do. She had to study the necessary activity of fundraising and develop a plan on fulfilling the needs of the NGO within the abilities of society to support it.

“Now that there are many nonprofits, there’s a very competitive environment out there. We have to think outside the box about how we’re going to survive,” she said. “We’re partnering with other organizations and then split the proceeds which helps us survive.”

Charters said non-profits are further challenged by a lack of skilled volunteers who must decide if they’re going to find jobs to help their families or work as volunteers for a worthy NGO.

Despite the changing world, pitfalls and challenges, Charters is committed to her course and advises those who’d want to establish their own NGO to educate themselves about non-governmental organizations and their missions, research their activity and gain experience.

“You can help your cause by helping an existing NGO. If one doesn’t exist, form your own,” she recommends. “Then register your group as a 501c3.”

But what about passion?

“You have to be 110% passionate about your NGO. It’s has to be about passion because you probably won’t get paid. You really have to want to do it. It will have to be a priority in your life,” she affirmed.

You can follow Latina Surge’s progress via @latinasurge https://www.facebook.com/latinasurge/ https://www.instagram.com/latinasurge/ & https://www.linkedin.com/company/latina-surge/