Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | June 13, 2022 | wbjournal.com BY ANTHONY BUSCARINO WBJ Editorial Intern S onny Phengsomphone stood in the woods of Laos, near the banks of the Mekong River. Along- side his mother and sister, he peered through the darkness that befell the Mekong. His father, having told the family to stay put, had set out alone in search of a boat to bear them across the water. ey waited. Just across the river situated salvation: a ai refugee camp. Hundreds of thousands of people had crossed the same water body for that same reason, and it was no easy feat. ose who embarked on the swim potentially faced death: drowning, or catching bullets from Laotian soldiers. Aer trudging through the murky river, Phengsom- phone's father eventually landed upon a bordering resi- dence, which crucially contained a docked boat. Assisting refugees was illegal, and expecting opposition, he brought an important commodity: gold. Tempting the homeowner with the valuables, he secured the ra, on one condition: do what you have to do, but bring it back immediately. "Maybe that [trade] is kinda how I got my business sav- viness [from my dad]," laughs Sonny Phengsomphone. As owner and founder of Worcester cybersecurity company BitSpartan and co-owner of Northborough nail salon Lush Nail Lounge, Phengsomphone's tale of immi- gration illuminates a key trait necessary to entrepreneurs: perseverance. e Phengsomphones fled their home country in 1985. Laos, which had ended its 16-and-a-half year civil war only a decade before, was essentially a totalitarian state. e new government imposed several restrictions on civil liberties, including threats of physical violence against political dissidents. Both tourism and emigration were effectively banned, so there was only one way to leave the country: escape. "ere were a lot of human rights violations," said Phengsomphone. "People were scared of the government … We were fleeing Laos, and I say flee because there weren't any humanitarian [organizations] to help us get to another country." As the family waiting on the banks of the Mekong, Phengsomphone's father eventually returned, and off the four went. Aer trekking through the ai wilderness, and narrowly avoiding brushes with immigration officials, they landed at the refugee camp. us spearheaded the start of a new life. A refugee turned IT professional e family stayed in the refugee camp for about three years, during which time Phengsomphone's sister passed away. Ultimately, they received sponsorship from a person in the United States, which required them to move to a U.S. immigration facility in the Philippines. ey stayed there for about a year, during which time Phengsom- phone's younger brother was born. Finally, in 1988, the family reached the U.S. Pheng- somphone first arrived in Rockford, Ill., close to his sponsor, before eventually moving to New England. Phengsomphone's family first landed in Hartford before settling in Woonsocket, R.I. In Hartford, Phengsomphone figured out the course for his life. "I was in seventh grade when my teacher said, 'Hey, this is what you can do,'" Phengsomphone said. "And she gave me a list of all the fields that I could get into." Combing through that list, two fields piqued his inter- est: engineering and computing. is was due, in part, to its starting pay being significantly higher than what his parents made. "I can make, you know, three-to-four times the amount of money my parents made [as an engineer]. My dad, who woke up at five in the morning, and came home with oil and grease stuck in his skin and eyes … while [in IT] I can use my brain, wear a suit and tie, be clean, and also make much more money," Phengsomphone said. "From then on, I've always had that in my head." Carrying this mindset through- out high school, it eventually helped Phengsomphone secure an internship at Amica Insurance in Lincoln, R.I. ere, he met an adjunct professor from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, who invited him to the universi- ty's then-new IT degree program. Knowing college was necessary to live the life he aspired to, he pounced on the opportunity. Due to the family's low income, he feared he would start from a disadvantaged position to pay for college. However, through scholar- ships and federal grants, he secured an education at Johnson & Wales. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in information technology in 2005, then immediately started work as a technical project man- ager with Connecticut consulting company Pitney Bowes. Later, he worked four years as a systems administrator with Millbury material solutions company Barrday. Traveling daily to there from Woon- socket, he had his first exposure to his future home: Worcester. His first taste of entrepreneurship Phengsomphone continued to work at several IT companies for over a decade in various positions, includ- ing senior positions as a systems administrator, mainly specializing in infrastructure technology. Eventually, e two businesses Sonny Phengsomphone has started in Central Mass. are just part of his immigrant journey A refugee and an entrepreneur 0 $50B $100B $150B $200B $250B '22 '23 '24 '25 '26 Projected annual revenue globally $146B $212B Growth in the cybersecurity market Source: Statista Germany-based market data provider Statista projects the cybersecurity market to grow 7.4% annually in the U.S. and 9.7% globally over the next five years Sonny Phengsomphone operates his BitSpartan business out of the WorcLab incubator in downtown Worcester.

• Cover