From Coast to Coast, Immigrants Drive Local Economies

Across the country, immigrants are helping to keep the economy going and in many cases it is thriving because of them. This is the way our country has always been.    - - Donna Poisl

by Paul McDaniel

Immigrant entrepreneurship has transformed Atlanta’s northeastern suburbs along and near Buford Highway into “International Village” – an area filled with immigrant restaurants, markets, specialty stores, and other businesses. Through ventures such as Chinatown Square, Asian Square Mall, and Plaza Fiesta immigrants have “economically and socially revived an area that faced economic stagnation and population decline.” As one researcher noted, “the five-mile stretch of highway running through Chamblee, Doraville, and Norcross constitutes the greatest concentration of ethnic-owned businesses in the southeastern U.S.”

Throughout the country, examples of the role immigrants play in promoting economic growth and community development abound:
Click on the HEADLINE above to read the examples in several states! This is only a small part of the story.