Editor’s Note: Steve S. Rao He is a Morrisville town council member, former mayor protem, and an opinion writer for WRAL Tech Wire. He served on the board of the New American Economy, now the American Immigration Council, and on the NC Municipal Race and Equity Task Force. He is a regular contributor to WRAL TechWire.
Note to readers: WRAL TechWire welcomes feedback from you regarding the views expressed by contributors. Send an email to info@wraltechwire.com.
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Morrisville – This is a fun party game. Shuffling a stack of business cards from a random cross-section of an American corporate leader, closing his eyes he picks one and sees if the drawn card bears an Indian name. Look at the person’s address. It’s entirely possible that the CEO is based in North Carolina.
Okay, maybe it’s not a great party game. But in the modern world of business, there’s no question that Indian Americans are everywhere. Computers are not only in his rooms and laboratories, but more and more in executive and boardrooms.
Today, Indian Americans run businesses from Alphabet to FedEx. Here in North Carolina is the founder and CEO of Dhruv Gupta. DynProis a Chapel Hill digital consulting firm with over 1200 employees. Former Belk CEO Nir Patel is now CEO of Gamestop. Or Partha Sen, CEO of Charlotte-based data science provider Fuzzy Logix. From finance and retail to computing and biotechnology, thousands of Indian-owned, Indian-founded, or Indian-led businesses create thousands of high-paying jobs for American workers.
These leaders are not only driving job creation and innovation here in the country. They encourage business leaders who have returned to India to invest in America, especially North Carolina. Amazingly, our state accounts for the majority of India’s investments in the United States. From 2014 to 2018, Indian companies Invested over $409 million We create more than 4,400 jobs here. This outweighs the jobs created by investments in other states of India.
Investing in Thar Heel State
In recent years, Infosys has A new $3 billion innovation hub We work towards the triangle with the goal of creating thousands of jobs over the next decade. We have seen Bharat Forge bring hundreds of jobs to Sanford and HCL to bring thousands more to Cary. With foreign direct investment now involved in one-fifth of North Carolina’s major business expansions, these connections are critical to the state’s continued economic growth, and Indian-American neighbors and colleagues are critical. long-term strategic asset.
This is happening because North Carolina has built a good reputation in India. Sure, we’ve worked hard to market ourselves. North Carolina’s Economic Development Partnership has set up an office in Bangalore to promote the state to Indian businesses.
We should also thank people like Swadesh Chatterjee, a Cary-based Indian-American entrepreneur who has done much to foster warm relations between the leaders of the United States and India. it won’t work. But we are advertising something authentic, so marketing has worked. We are a great place for Indians to come, study, work and be successful. As a result, more Indians are coming here to get an education and pursue their dreams. It’s a virtuous circle.
Guest Opinion: Immigration Policy Focused on Highly Skilled Workers Could Boost NC Economy
tip of the iceberg
So, while Indian-American CEOs get a lot of attention, remember that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to contributions made by Indian-Americans. Indian students, along with other international students, contribute $722.3 million annually to the state’s economy, supporting over 9,000 jobs. The skills they acquire underpin our innovation economy and drive the success of businesses of all kinds.
As of 2016, 14 of the 87 US “unicorn” startups worth more than $1 billion were founded by Indian immigrants, more than those founded by immigrant entrepreneurs of any other nationality. is established. .
In other words, Indian-American CEOs are only part of a much larger story.A broader ecosystem of South Asian talent will bring opportunity, prosperity and billions of dollars of foreign capital to our state. The problem is that we will do enough to continue to attract Indians to our shores and set the stage for the next generation of Indian managers to power our economy. are you there?
Challenges to face
Unfortunately our state’s India-friendly brands can only carry us so far. It’s very difficult to reach your full potential.
In fact, experts say 2023 will be the toughest year on record for skilled workers, with more than half a million people fighting over just 85,000 visas. To make matters worse, workers who do get visas often graduate with green cards, thanks to a “country cap” policy that means they have to wait decades to get permanent residency. can’t get This is a big problem. Because it binds an Indian worker to her one employer, making it impossible for her to pursue new opportunities or start her own business.
North Carolina invests as much in India as its business community does in us. We need a smart immigration policy to keep this partnership strong and keep investment flowing out of India.
At the very least, we need to reform our skilled worker visa and green card programs so more Indian workers can envision their future here in North Carolina.
Let’s get to work to make this happen.
