www.HartfordBusiness.com • June 3, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 3
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Art Feltman | Co-founder, One World Market
By Sean Teehan
steehan@hartfordbusiness.com
A
s Hartford gets into the swing of summer,
the Old State House plaza will for the first
time host One World Market, an interna-
tional food court and entertainment space open
for the season.
The market, which first opened in the summer
of 2015, is run by nonprofit International Hart-
ford, which was co-founded by Art Feltman with
the goal of stimulating the local economy and
promoting immigrant businesses.
Operating Wednesdays outside Hartford
Hospital and Thursdays at the Old State House,
the outdoor food court serves as an incubator for
eight fledgling immigrant entrepreneurs who will
showcase their cuisine, Feltman said.
Vendors include Munchers, East-West Grille on
Wheels, Rockin' Chicken, Bombay Olive, Samba
Cuisine, Naturally Smooth and 2YourHealth.
"The immigrant sector of our economy is highly
dynamic," Feltman said. "Immigrants are twice as
likely as native-born Americans to start business-
es, and startups yield 40 percent of new jobs. They
are a powerful engine of economic growth."
What is the biggest misconception about refu-
gees and other immigrants in business?
The biggest economic misconception about
immigrants and refugees is that they depend on
government largesse. In fact, it's the opposite.
Refugees, for example, get six months of help
before being cut off. Immigrants who aren't perma-
nent residents aren't entitled to any help. It's sink
or swim for them, just as it was for my ancestors.
How prevalent are immigrant-owned business-
es in Greater Hartford?
As of 2012, close to 7 percent of the city's
foreign-born adults own businesses, nearly twice
the rate of native-born city residents.
On average, urban entrepreneurs earn more: in-
corporated business owners make 40 percent more
than city residents who work for others. In metro
Hartford, immigrant entrepreneurs drive nearly all
net commercial growth on suburban Main Streets
and on cities' neighborhood arteries.
Although Hartford immigrants are more entre-
preneurial than native-born residents, they still
underperform the 10.5 percent national immi-
grant business ownership rate.
Cities that invest in immigrant entrepreneur-
ship — like New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis
— push their immigrant business ownership
rates well into the double digits, creating jobs,
removing blight, paying taxes and buying from
local suppliers.
What resources are the most challenging for
entrepreneurial immigrants to find?
One of two barriers most foreign-born en-
trepreneurs face is lack of financial resources.
They've come to build up savings, and are work-
ing multiple minimum-wage jobs. Lenders tell
them to borrow equity from "friends and family,"
but their friends and family are recent arrivals,
too, in the same position.
Speaking 50 languages, they are challenged to fill
out government forms — written in English — to
get permits and make their business legal.
Art Feltman
PHOTO
|
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