Written by Juanita Cousins, March 25, 2011, on Tennessean.com
Ming Wang’s story of success is a textbook case for the New Nashville Business Alliance.
“I arrived in this country in 1982 as a foreign student who knew no one, and had only $50 in my pocket but a big American dream in my heart,” Wang said. “America is an immigrant country from the Mayflower to Ellis Island. All immigrants have benefited by coming to America and enjoying a free society of choice, but now immigrants have the obligation to contribute back to America’s economy to help it become a stronger and better place.”
He studied at Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now works from his West End Avenue office as an eye surgeon.
His journey from China to become a Middle Tennessee entrepreneur is one that can be shared with other immigrant business owners, which is why he is part of a growing web of Nashville immigrant business owners.
The New Nashville Business Alliance is a network for experienced foreign-born business owners and second-generation newcomers trying to make it in Nashville’s business world. The group includes taxicab drivers from Somalia, technology experts from India, Hispanic immigration attorneys and presidents from the local minority chambers of commerce.
“It is a connection you are making with other businesses. You will have information and knowledge about where you fit in Davidson County,” said Abdulkadir Gure who began working in Nashville as a taxi driver before becoming an Arabic instructor at Vanderbilt University. “I believe with the new convention center that if there are a lot of connections with us in the city, it will help us to achieve the few things that we want (and that will) help a lot of immigrant families in Tennessee.”
The alliance loosely formed in November 2009 when Tennessee State University international business management and economic development professor Galen Spencer Hull did a study on foreign-born business owners in Davidson County.
The study grouped Nashville immigrant business owners into six categories based on ethnicity, religion and industry. It found the entrepreneurs have a significant impact on Middle Tennessee’s economy but many lack the English language skills or financing for their businesses to reach a wider audience.
The group had its first public event in February — a round table of seasoned entrepreneurs speaking about their experiences in adapting to life in the United States and establishing a business.
“We give guidelines to other people so when they start their businesses they don’t have to make the same mistakes that we (did),” said George Hanna, who came from Egypt three decades ago and owns Gold Store Wireless cell phone repair shop on Murfreesboro Road.
Wang said, “We all have the same goals in life — to help our families, to help ourselves and to help our country, and in this case, our adopted country of America.”
Contact Juanita Cousins at 615-259-8287, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Twitter.com/talljournalist.