Immigrant, Inc.: Why Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Driving the New Economy (and how they will save the American worker) »

Richard T. Herman is the founder of Richard T. Herman & Associates, an immigration and business law firm in Cleveland, Ohio, which serves a global clientele in over ten languages. He is the co-founder of a chapter of TiE, a global network of entrepreneurs started in 1992 in Silicon Valley. He has appeared on ABC's 20/20, National Public Radio, Fox News, and various affiliates of NBC, CBS, and ABC. He has also been quoted in such publications as USA Today, InformationWeek, PC World, Computerworld, CIO, Site Selection, and National Lawyers Weekly.

Robert L. Smith is a veteran journalist who covers international cultures and immigration for The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper. He has written extensively about immigration issues and has interviewed people at all points of the immigrant experience, from undocumented field workers to millionaire entrepreneurs.

The question of what to do about illegal immigration stokes enough emotion and controversy to silence civil discussion. Lost in the contentious debate over immigration reform, tragically, has been the impact of legal immigrants and their remarkable success in the New Economy. The companies founded by immigrants stand as icons of the era: Google, Intel, Yahoo, Hotmail, Sun Microsystems, YouTube, and eBay. And those are just the superstars. From university laboratories to urban neighborhoods, from Silicon Valley to the Rust Belt, immigrants are playing key roles as innovators and job creators.

Consider that:

• Today's immigrants are nearly twice as likely as non-immigrants to launch a business.

• Immigrant founders are behind more than half of the high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley.

• Immigrants have become more likely than native-born Americans to earn an advanced degree, to invent something, and to be awarded a U.S. patent.

Do these immigrants have a secret? It's a culture, actually. A culture of entrepreneurship that stems from education, thrift, family loyalty, and am-bition. Many of today's immigrants arrive ready-made to perform in a knowledge-based, global economy. They are world-class strivers who drop into capitalist America like seeds into the good earth. And they bloom here, creating businesses and jobs at astonishing rates.

Authors Richard T. Herman and Robert L. Smith call this culture Immigrant, Inc. Their ground-breaking work explains how immigrants have become America's competitive advantage in a global economy and warns of the perils of losing that advantage, especially as the nation seeks to pull out of a great recession.

With personal stories of immigrant journeys, the authors reveal the passions motivating America's immigrant achievers, their success strategies, and their power to revive communities and create new industries.

Both a revelation and a call-to-action, Immigrant, Inc. reveals how you can join the new age of innovation—by thinking and acting like an immigrant.

Immigrant, Inc. is a book that will forever change the way you look at immigrants...and America.

Preface: My Immigrant Experience.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction: Welcome to Immigrant, Inc.

Chapter 1 A Mighty New Idea.

Chapter 2 The Mounting Evidence.

Discovering a Phenomenon.

The Accidental Entrepreneurs.

Urban Legend?

A Skill Grows Lucrative.

Mother of Invention.

The VCs' Keen Eye.

New Seeds, Fertile Soil.

Chapter 3 A Land of Opportunity, Still.

A True Model Minority.

An Idea, an Obsession.

Learning to Persevere.

Survival, Climbing, and Thriving.

Where Business Is Business.

Chapter 4 Restless Dreamers.

Seeing It First.

A 24-Hour Job.

Mexico Never Tasted So Good.

No Room for a Dream.

The Colors of Palestine.

Chapter 5 Earth's Best and Brightest.

Attracting the Striver Class.

An African Way.

The Reluctant Italian-American.

Out of Shadows, into Solar.

Love, Study, and a Start-Up.

At Home Far Away.

Chapter 6 Cowboys of a New Frontier.

A New Kind of Entrepreneur.

A Melting-Pot Dream Team.

The Super Prof.

Joining a New England Tradition .

The Guru.

New Era of Innovation.

Made in America?

Reviving the Motor City.

Spirits High, Lights Aglow.

Chapter 7 Desperate Achievers: Prequel to Google.

Starting from Nothing.

The Boat People.

An Artful Niche.

The Family of Google.

Anxious Wait for Visas.

Chapter 8 Importing Solutions.

A Gateway Re-Emerges.

Tapping the Tide.

Savvy Pilgrims, Creative Shopkeepers.

A Wave of Home Restorers.

A Boost for Everyone.

The Power of One.

Pushing Open the Door.

Toward a "Shared Prosperity".

A Harlem-Like Renaissance.

Seeds of Progress.

Chapter 9 The Stimulus We Need.

An Immigrant Advantage.

America Losing Ground.

Suffering an Antiquated System.

A Better Way.

The Change We Need—Changing Attitudes.

Chapter 10 Thinking Like an Immigrant.

The Dream-Keepers.

A Nation of Immigrants Indeed.

Keys to Success.

The Explorer.

The Knowledge Advantage.

For Pride, For Family.

The Power of Teamwork.

The Possible Dream.

Appendix.

About the Authors.

Index.