Immigrants are responsible for the majority of billion dollar start ups in the Unites States - that's the finding of a report from the National Foundation for American Policy. The study found that immigrants are a leading force in the development of information technology, health, energy and financial services.
Lorenzo Gomez, the CEO of Geekdom, said San Antonio sees the positive impact of entrepreneurial immigration particularly from Mexico.
"Our proximity to Mexico is one of our great competitive advantages. There is a saying in Mexico that San Antonio is Mexico's most northern city. and we see it with start-ups. And as an example there is a start-up at Geekdom called CodersLink. This company specializes in going into Mexico and getting 10-13 year experienced programmers and placing them with start ups in San Antonio and the reason for that is quietly for the last decade Mexico has become one of the top five producers of top IT talent in the world."
Gomez said the United States is losing out on some of the entrepreneurial immigration talent because of the nation's immigration system. He said we need an entrepreneurial visa which would help the economy and create jobs.
Guests:
- Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy
- Lorenzo Gomez, CEO of Geekdom and executive director of the 80/20 Foundation
