Small Biz Notes: Immigrants gravitate to small- business ownership – The News
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More than one in six small-business owners in the United States is an immigrant, according to a new report from the New York-based Fiscal Policy Institute.
Other findings:
• People born in another country make up 18 percent of all small-business owners in the United States.
• By comparison, immigrants made up 13 percent of the population and 16 percent of the labor force in 2010.
• Twenty years ago, immigrants made up 9 percent of the labor force and 12 percent of small-business ownership.
Romere Calixte was part of the immigrant business owner uptick. The Haitian-born Calixte came to Florida in 1995, and first took a job as a baker for Publix.
“I said I’d work five years, then go out on my own,” Calixte said.
He reached his goal, opening Fort Myers Bakery on Fowler Street in 2000. It remains open, but the region’s longstanding economic slump has taken a toll.
Calixte struggles to pay the rent and utilities.
He can afford only one part-time worker, three days a week.
“Business is slow, people don’t have money,” Calixte said.