Recognizing March 27th through April 1st 2017 as the first Immigrant Business Week in the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Since its very founding, the City of Philadelphia has prospered and been sustained by the industriousness of its immigrant population; and

WHEREAS, The City’s recent modest population growth is more than accounted for by the new residents born outside of the United States, which has provided about 5,000 new Philadelphians annually in the most recent years for which estimates are available,

in some neighborhoods preventing destabilizing blight and helping spur growth along commercial corridors

; and

WHEREAS, Our immigrant population is notably younger than our US-born residents, featuring about 50% in prime working ages of 20 to 55 years old; and

WHEREAS,

The economic impact of Philadelphia’s immigrant population is significant: since 2000, immigrants are responsible for 96% of the small business growth and 75% of the workforce growth, and of the nearly one billion dollars in earnings generated by small business owners in the City of Philadelphia, immigrant entrepreneurs are responsible for 72% – $770 million – of those earnings

; and

WHEREAS, In Philadelphia, immigrants paid $6 billion in total taxes and held $15.8 billion in spending power in 2014 and, with 40,171 immigrant entrepreneurs, are 43.1% more likely to start their own businesses than the native population; and

WHEREAS, To celebrate and promote these contributions while also connecting immigrant entrepreneurs to resources for their businesses in Philadelphia, in collaboration with the Department of Commerce and other key partners, the Office of Immigrant Affairs will host Philadelphia’s first ever Immigrant Business Week, March 27 – April 1; and

WHEREAS, Immigrant Business Week will feature events including educational workshops and opportunities for networking, resource sharing, and promotion, kicking off with a launch ceremony on Monday at 2:30 in Conversation Hall and running through Saturday’s How to Run a Successful Small Business discussion at the African Cultural Alliance of North America from 10 am to 1 pm; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby proclaim March 27th through April 1st 2017 as the first Immigrant Business Week in the City of Philadelphia.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

End