Immigrants play big role in tech startups

Another study showing why immigrants are such an important part of this country. DP

McClatchy Newspapers

columbiatribune.com: KANSAS CITY - Foreign-born people were the founders of 25 percent of the technology and engineering firms started in the United States from 1995 to 2005.

These immigrant-founded companies employed 450,000 workers in 2005 and tallied sales of about $52 billion, according to research sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. A report released yesterday said this group of immigrant entrepreneurs showed a "strong correlation" between advanced education and business creation.

"More than half of the foreign-born founders of U.S. technology and engineering businesses initially came to the United States to study. Very few came with the sole purpose of starting a company," the researchers found.

The report also found that:

● Ninety-six percent of the immigrant founders held bachelor’s degrees, and 74 percent held graduate or post-graduate degrees.

● Three-fourths of their degrees were in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

● About half of the immigrant founders completed their highest educational degree at U.S. universities.

Researchers at Duke University and the University of California-Berkeley conducted research for the report, which described the typical immigrant entrepreneur as someone who founded a company after living and working in the United States an average of 13 years.

Their business startups are especially concentrated in America’s technology centers, such as California’s Silicon Valley.

"The U.S. economy depends upon these high rates of entrepreneurship and innovation to maintain its global edge," said Vivek Wadhwa, a contributing researcher at Duke.