A new report shows that one in six small business owners in the United States is an immigrant, while in Kentucky immigrants play a disproportionately large role as business owners relative to their small population.
In Kentucky, according to the report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, immigrants make up 4.6 percent of business owners while constituting only 2.8 percent of the population. Immigrants are more likely to be business owners in Kentucky than U.S.-born workers. Business owners make up 3.4 percent of the foreign-born labor force in Kentucky, and 2.8 percent of the U.S.-born labor force.
As the report shows, immigrants make important contributions to the Kentucky and American economy–including by bringing entrepreneurial ideas and initiative and providing much-needed employment.
“In some communities, we see a political climate that creates a hostile environment for immigrants,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute. “This report shows that, as a country, we can’t go down that path. With immigrants making up one in six of all small business owners, a climate that is hostile to immigrants is also a climate that is bad for business.”
