Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal • February 1, 2016 www.wbjournal.com Land of opportunity Anita Fabos, a professor at Clark University and an expert on refugees and immigrant populations, said the Seven Hills findings are consistent with studies she has seen for other cities. "It's not unexpected to have a foreign- born population performing well. Immigrant populations typically per- form quite well in the labor force; it's sort of a known thing," she said. The study's numbers Worcester is home to 37,970 immi- grants from 85 different countries. Most are from Latin America (33 percent) and Asia (27 percent), with 18 percent hail- ing from Europe and 21 percent coming from Africa. Slightly less than half of the foreign- born population is naturalized, meaning they've become citizens. Generally, nat- uralized citizens are better off economi- cally than Worcester natives, and non- citizens are worse off. Among nonciti- zens, there are about 5,500 unauthorized immigrants living in Worcester, and an estimated 2,196 refugees came to the city between 2007 and 2012. There are also more immigrants of working age than natives – 42 percent of immigrants are between the ages of 25 to 44, compared to 24 percent of people who were born here. Most immigrants in that age group are noncitizens. Naturalized foreign-born residents also have higher rates of homeowner- ship (53 percent), compared to natives (46 percent) and noncitizens (19 per- cent), and they have the highest median household income ($50,865) out of those groups as well, with natives earn- ing $46,263 on average and noncitizens earning $37,944. "If we really want to get to the hard issues of money and economics, that's what this report tried to get to, and we were able to prove without a doubt that immigrants in Worcester and elsewhere bring significant economic value," said David A. Jordan, president of Seven Hills and its affiliates. The one foreign-born population that falls short of citywide averages in earn- ings and employment is the Latin American population, the study found. While the Latin American community had second highest labor force partici- pation rate at 77 percent, it also had the lowest rates of English proficiency (61 percent) and educational attainment (21 percent), as well as the lowest median individual income ($20,454), and the highest percentage of Medicaid/ MassHealth enrollment at 50 percent, which is much higher than the citywide average of 34 percent. "We, in the city of Worcester, need to work closely with the Latin American Partner at 31; Worcester advocate since childhood she felt she could practice law and have a great impact on the community while maintaining a level of sanity that alluded her friends who moved onto hectic lives in Boston and New York City. A young leader In addition to becoming the young- est Bowditch partner – practicing law in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut – Nguyen is a member of the City of Worcester's Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, on the board of trustees at Quinsigamond Community College, on the advisory board of Worcester high-school-to-col- lege-preparatory nonprofit Bottom Line and on the attorney advisory com- mittee for the Boston Lawyers Group. "Indeed, AiVi is a highly accom- plished trial attorney who has worked to earn the trust of clients and respect of her colleagues in the bar. We are proud of her dedication to the goals of diversity - at our firm and in the larger community," said Bowditch managing partner James D. Hanrahan, when he announced her promotion to partner. Nguyen said her promotion to part- ner not only was this a huge achieve- ment for herself personally, but a signal of the progressive nature of her law firm. It is this kind of willingness to accept and incorporate young employees ready to commit to their employers that Worcester businesses have an opportu- nity to benefit from, Nguyen said. "When there was discussions of my partnership … it was never, 'She's too young, and that's a definite no.' That's red tape. That's arbitrary," Nguyen said. "(In Worcester) you take your turn when you're ready for it." Although she strived to ensure her >> Continued from Page 1 >> Continued from Page 1 AiVi Nguyen believes one of the greatest strengths Worcester is that young professionals can rise to positions of influence and contribute in major ways to the city and the business community. As a native of a Latin American country, Bueno hopes to take advantage of the rise of Hispanic-run businesses in Central Mass. P H O T O / M A T T V O L P I N I P H O T O / M A T T V O L P I N I

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