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| Four Indian Business Owners Nominated For The 2016 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards |
Press Release
03/23/2016
On April 28, 2016, at The Immigrant Learning Center’s fifth annual Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, more than 250 business and community leaders will come together to honor 42 immigrants from 26 countries who founded businesses in 18 Massachusetts communities. These nominees represent outstanding business leaders from across the commonwealth in four business categories: growth, neighborhood, high-tech and life science.
This is a diverse group. The businesses they founded range from three to 56 years old and are as dissimilar as a neighborhood bakery, a law firm and a cutting-edge technology company; but each of these 45 nominees made the same choice to leave the country of their birth, start a new life and a new business in this country. The residents of Massachusetts benefit greatly from this choice.
The 2016 winner in each category will be announced at the Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner on Thursday, April 28, 2016, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., with Master of Ceremonies, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash. Ticket and sponsorship information is available at http://www.ilctr.org.
Business Growth
According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development, private employers added 5.8 percent more jobs from 2012 to 2015. The nine nominees in the Business Growth category increased their number of full-time-equivalent employees by 20 to 1067 percent during the same time frame. These immigrant entrepreneurs have had phenomenal success in a sluggish economy and are expanding the Massachusetts workforce. The nominees for The 2016 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in Business Growth are:
Herby Duverne, Taino Consulting Group, LLC, Boston
from Haiti
Wendy Estrella, Estrella Law Firm, Lawrence
from Dominican Republic
Eduardo & German Fernandez, Brothers Market, Inc., Dorchester
from Dominican Republic
Francisco Fernandez, Happy Supermarket, Dorchester
from Dominican Republic
Marc-Andre Lebel, FRX Polymers, Inc., Chelmsford
from Canada
Larry O’Toole, Gentle Giant Moving Company, Somerville
from Ireland
Hitendra Patel, IXL Center, Cambridge
from Zambia
Jose de la Rosa, Guardian Healthcare, Jamaica Plain
from Dominican Republic
Tony Salem, Sea-Dar Construction, Boston
from Lebanon
Neighborhood Business
Small businesses are the lifeblood of many neighborhoods. They provide needed goods and services, local jobs, and they give back to their communities. The nominees for The 2016 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in Neighborhood Business are:
Angelica and Diana Cardona, Chocolafee, Revere
from Columbia
Eva and Nick Chau, Tai Tung Pharmacy, Boston
from China
Joe DeSouza, Modelos Market and Cafe, Somerville
from Brazil
Mai Du, Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy, Malden
from Vietnam
Julia Frenkle, Opus Design LLC, Brighton
from Germany
Suraj Gurung, Asian Star Markets LLC, West Springfield
from Bhutan
Dheyaa Habeed, Baghdad Bakery and Market, West Springfield
from Iraq
Sandra Katz-Deleon, Center For Bilingual Services, Lawrence
from Ecuador
Fatima Langa, Muqueca Restaurant, Cambridge
from Brazil
Gerardo Loza and Hilda Torres, My Little Best Friends Early Learning Center, Malden
from Mexico
Danaris Mazara, Sweet Grace Heavenly Cakes, Lawrence
from Dominican Republic
Moe Mobasherat, Omnidentix & Associates, Medford
from Iran
Elizabeth Nolberto, Ellie’s CPR and First Aid Training, Lawrence
from Dominican Republic
Jignesh Patel, Jay Square, Beverly
from India
Colette Phillips, Colette Phillips Communications, Boston
from Antigua
Antonio Rodrigues, TNT Cleaning Services Inc., Assonet
from Cape Verde
Magbe Savane, Makomas LLC, Revere
from Côte d’Ivoire
Douglas Tran, All Seasons Table Restaurant, Malden
from Vietnam
Angela Westen, Angela Westen Insurance Agency, Lowell
from Brazil
High-Tech
The nominees in the high-tech category have each made remarkable contributions in their fields, and they contribute to Massachusetts’ reputation as a top ecosystem of innovation. They are at the cutting edge of technologies as diverse as cybersecurity, energy, nanotechnology, mobile apps, cloud computing and the internet of things. These immigrants are forging innovations that can have a significant impact on the future. The nominees for The 2016 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in High-Tech are:
Edison Almeida, eCurv Inc., Cambridge
from Brazil
Rajini Anachi, mZeal Communications, Littleton
from India
Vladimir Bulovic, QD Vision, Lexington
from Yugoslavia
Mihael Mikek, Celtra Inc., Boston
from Slovenia
Markus Rex, ownCloud, Lexington
from Germany
Omri Shor, Medisafe, Boston
from Israel
Life Science
Immigrants are overrepresented among patent holders and Nobel Prize winners. In Massachusetts, immigrant entrepreneurs are a critical component leading to Massachusetts’ reputation as a life science powerhouse. These founders are making significant breakthroughs that impact the health and well-being of us all ranging from neurologic disorders, cancer, food science, human microbiome therapies and gene-based drugs. The nominees for The 2016 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year in Life Science are:
Sudhir Agrawal, Idera Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge
from India
PJ Anand, Alcyone Lifesciences and Arthromeda, Inc., Lowell
from India
Garo H. Armen, Agenus Inc., Lexington and Children of Armenia Fund, New York, NY
from Turkey
Magdalena Leszczyniecka, STC Biologics, Cambridge
from Poland
Bernat Olle, Vedanta Biosciences, Inc., Cambridge
from Spain
Elisabet de los Pinos, Aura Biosciences Inc., Cambridge
from Spain
Oliver Yu, Conagen, Inc., Bedford
from China
About The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc.
The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) of Malden, MA, is a not-for-profit organization that gives immigrants a voice in three ways. The English Language Program provides free, year-round English classes to immigrant and refugee adults in Greater Boston to help them become successful workers, parents and community members. The Public Education Institute informs Americans about the economic and social contributions of immigrants in our society, and the Institute for Immigration Research, a joint venture with George Mason University, conducts research on the economic contributions of immigrants.
For more information, visit the website http://www.ilctr.org. The ILC can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
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