
{"id":9388,"date":"2010-03-18T11:38:08","date_gmt":"2010-03-18T19:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2010\/03\/18\/when-immigration-and-job-creation-collide\/"},"modified":"2010-03-18T11:51:58","modified_gmt":"2010-03-18T19:51:58","slug":"when-immigration-and-job-creation-collide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/03\/18\/when-immigration-and-job-creation-collide\/","title":{"rendered":"When immigration and job creation collide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Business Notes<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><strong>By Margot C. Lester<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>A couple weeks ago, U.S. senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Start-up Visa Act\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to promote job creation in businesses owned by non-U.S. citizens. The proposal suggests a two-year visa for immigrant entrepreneurs who can attract at least $250,000 in angel or venture capital financing. If the firm adds at least five non-family employees, attracts $1 million in financing or earns $1 million in revenue, the owner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s visa becomes permanent. According to research from the Kauffman Foundation, immigrants have founded about 25 percent of the technology companies in the United States, employing tens of thousands of Americans.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed bill could be a boon to people here on H-1B visas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a non-immigrant visa that lasts up to six years and is awarded to highly skilled workers in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153specialty\u00e2\u20ac\u009d fields such as technology, biotech, architecture, science and engineering. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sweet deal, including vacation, sick and maternity\/paternity leave. Recipients can even bring their spouses and kids in. About 65,000 of these visas are granted annually. <\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the Kerry-Lugar proposal won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything at all for immigrants who are here on other types of visas. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Kauffman Foundation economist Robert Litan is advocating for a temporary \u00e2\u20ac\u0153job-creators\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 visa\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for immigrants already legally in the U.S. Like the original bill, Litan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposed visa would be extended when the firm hires at least one American non-family member, and would become permanent once the enterprise crosses a certain job threshold.<\/p>\n<p>The bills are both nice ideas, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re unlikely to have an enormous impact on job creation. Unemployment is still incredibly high (14.9 million people, or 9.7 percent of the U.S. population), and it seems unlikely that even the most enterprising entrepreneurs will be able to create enough jobs to make a dent in that startling figure. <\/p>\n<p>What would help, according to Chapel Hill immigration attorney Adri\u00c3\u00a1n Halpern, is another approach entirely. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thanks to the extra layer of lawyering required to comply with federal and state securities regulations, the Start-up Visa Act will help relatively few immigrants, and whether any of them will turn into the next Andy Grove or Sergey Brin is quite speculative,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Halpern notes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Far more helpful to our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job creation would be Congress\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 passage of comprehensive immigration reform and a path to legal status for most of the estimated 12 million people in the U.S. illegally.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Comprehensive immigration reform would help the economy, Halpern suggests, because many adult immigrants who are here illegally have held off buying homes because of their highly uncertain futures. While that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good news for rental-property landlords, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do much for the local or national economy. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If their concerns over their U.S. futures were lifted, many of the 12 million \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcillegals\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 here would likely buy homes, providing a huge boost to our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Halpern says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, the Start-up Visa Act will help some, but its benefits pale compared to those of comprehensive reform. Now, more than ever, comprehensive immigration reform is in our nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economic self-interest.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nUniquities expands<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All the economic news isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bad. Following the wisdom that a downturn is a great time to expand (and yes, that is a prevailing thought among big-brained business people), Julie Jennings opened another Uniquities store in Durham across from Bright Leaf Square at 1000 West Main Street.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because of the recession, we reanalyzed everything, every line, every dollar we spend,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Jennings explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And we have more negotiating power. When things are great and when people want space, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not getting a deal. But with things the way they are, we got in for a great price and can be ready for the turnaround.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just the timing that prompted the expansion, Jennings says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been looking in Durham off and on for 10 years, so when the space came up, we had to take it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>This is Jennings\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fourth location. In addition to the West Franklin Street and Main Street locations, she has stores in Raleigh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cameron Village and North Hills shopping centers.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nLocal pharma tests drug compounds<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Chapel Hill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Cempra Pharmaceuticals completed Phase 1 studies for CEM-101, a next-generation macrolide that is a potential oral treatment for bacterial pneumonia. The next step is Phase 2 studies in patients with moderate to moderately severe community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, which will begin in the second quarter. The company also has filed an initial new drug application with the FDA for a Phase 1 study of the compound\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intravenous formula. New therapies for bacterial pneumonia are important because of rising drug resistance and issues of patient tolerance with current treatments. More than five million people get pneumonia each year.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nSoeters named ESC chair<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bill Soeters, owner of the UPS Store at Carrboro Plaza, was elected chairman of the Carrboro Economic Sustainability Commission (ESC) last week. He replaced Peter Lee, who will remain on the commission. The eight-member ESC evaluates commercial growth, development and redevelopment against the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sustainability goals and triple bottom-line sustainability principles. It also promotes job growth and economic opportunity and administers the Revolving Loan Fund. (Disclosure: The Citizen received a loan from that fund in 2009.) One of Soeters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 first tasks will be reviewing the Local Living Economy Task Force\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s recommendation to undertake a Think Local First campaign. Other task force recommendations are under consideration by the Town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Economic Development Office.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nCounty assesses housing options<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Orange County is preparing a five-year Consolidated Housing Plan for 2010-15. As a part of that process, it contracted with consultant W. Frank Newton Inc. to survey the public about housing needs and issues. Orange County residents can complete the form at surveymonkey.com\/s\/3KCSQSN or contact the Office of Human Rights and Relations at 245-2488 for a paper copy. Those who complete the survey will be eligible to win a $100 gift card. Survey data will help the county develop strategies, policies and programs that address the community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair housing needs.<br \/>\n<strong><br \/>\nKFC MIA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You may have noticed the abrupt departure of the Carrboro Kentucky Fried Chicken store. Practically a local landmark, the business had operated at the location for about half a century before losing its lease last month. Town Economic Develop Director James Harris is working with the owners who \u00e2\u20ac\u0153would love to find a new location that would accommodate a dining room. It would be even better if they could have a drive-through window.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A couple weeks ago, U.S. senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Start-up Visa Act\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to promote job creation in businesses owned by non-U.S. citizens. The proposal &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[275],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9388"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9402,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9388\/revisions\/9402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}