Governor Deval Patrick announced Thursday the proposal of a Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program. Or rather, a plan to keep highly-skilled international students in Massachusetts post-graduation.
Patrick's proposed legislation represents a loophole in federal immigration law, and could bolster the number of H-1B visas the state is allotted as a means of attracting and retaining talent. With the help of public agency MassTech, students who are eligible for an H-1B visa but unable to obtain it due to a federal cap will be dubbed an "entrepreneur in residence" if they have plans to start or grow a business locally.
For Hult International Business School, where the 280-student strong Boston campus boasts 263 international learners, the news is promising. Hallie Moran, Hult's head of visas and compliance, stated:
It's no secret within the higher education community that international students and employees drive economic growth and innovation. Trying to align local needs with federal immigration policies will always present challenges, but it’s exciting to see our leaders in Massachusetts coming up with creative programs to retain talent in a community that we might otherwise lose.
Soon-to-be Wheaton President Dennis Hanno, who's currently Babson's provost and senior vice president, also lauded the announcement. Twenty-five percent of Babson undergraduates and 60 percent of full-time graduate students hail from outside the U.S., according to Hanno, meaning this plan could have an immense impact.
"They become entrepreneurs here and then go back to their home countries," Hanno explained, emphasizing how heavy an effect international students could have if even a few were able to stay in-state. "I see what they do while they're here. I see they could make an impact here."
In Boston University's Office of Technology Development, graduate students are busily building new products or working on inventions with faculty members. The Office's Managing Director Vinit Nijhawan acknowledged how hard it can be, however, to turn several students' innovations into something commercially viable.
"It's hard for them to remain in the country as they try and raise money for the spin-off," Nijhawan argued.
And the more difficult the process, the more of a hindrance it is on economic growth.
"Successful foreign entrepreneurs will accelerate job growth," said John Gallaugher, an associate professor in Boston College's Information Systems Department, in an email to BostInno. "In recent history, more than half of [Silicon] Valley startups have at least one foreign-born founder."
Gallaugher, a son of immigrants himself, is a proponent of Patrick's plan, claiming he's all for widening the funnel for the smart and scrappy. "The brainpower and persistence of immigrants will make the economy stronger," he added. "It's the innate competitive advantage of our nation."
Bill Aulet, managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, was admittedly baffled it's taken this long to see change.
"When you look at my classes, they're dominated by immigrants," Aulet said. "They want to start companies here, and yet we make it so hard for them to stay here. It's just absurd."
Although he was quick to reiterate, "MIT is not a Massachusetts brand, it's a global brand," Aulet acknowledged he would still like to see students strengthening the local economy.
Will Massachusetts ever reach that turning point, though?
Blank Label Founder Fan Bi, an Australian citizen who's dealt with immigration issues firsthand, admitted to having two concerns about Thursday's announcement. The first is that the tech community has made a push for immigration reform, and received support from Capitol Hill, but that nothing has changed.
The menswear founder, and Babson dropout, went on to add:
The idea the individual would act as an EIR under a private or public institution is riddled with agency issues. The whole point of entrepreneurship is to build innovation uncompromising to existing institutions.
Eileen Han, a recent Northeastern alumna and marketing specialist at Attend.com, has her reservations, as well. Although excited by the legislation, Han, originally from Seoul, Korea, will still be facing visa issues, particularly given she's not working in a technical field. As Han explained:
People in technology and/or business are valued so high, but we should definitely try to support other majors because startups and entrepreneurs can come from any major or field of study. We don't want everyone in STEM and I've seen some people change their major in order to get their visa, although it's not what they are interested in studying or where they find their passion.
She also went to share more of her personal story:
I came to America without knowing anyone and or being able to "speak" in English. I had to, and still have to, study and work hard to build what I have now for the past six years. It's crazy that my final day will be decided by a random computer system. I wake up and that is in my head and I go to bed and it's there as a nightmare.
Bi and Han's skepticism is valid. Hanno, himself, asked, "How do you determine whose entrepreneurial idea has the most viability?" If a student is given the opportunity to stay in Massachusetts, exactly how much of an impact will they be expected to have on job growth?
"There's probably a lot of details to be worked out about who would qualify and what the terms of qualifying would mean," Hanno said, "and the government is not the most efficient in developing those kind of processes."
He did add, however, that the Global EIR program could put Massachusetts on more equal footing with locales that have a stronger infrastructure than the state does now. "I like the idea, it gives us a little more of a leg up on some of the competition," Hanno admitted.
And Aulet agreed. "I love what I'm hearing," he said. "Immigration is really curtailing entrepreneurship."
Image via Hult International Business School
