The Times-Tribune: Report: Immigrant entrepreneurs bolster local economy

When Krishna Kuikel lived in Nepal, he slept with six other family members in a bathroom-sized bamboo hut.

Now, the 33-year-old refugee and his wife, Bindu, own a corner building on Scranton’s South Side where they live and run a thriving business — and plan to expand.

After a stop in Burlington, Vermont, in 2008, he and his wife noted the growing Bhutanese population in Scranton, where his sister had settled, and recognized a business opportunity. They opened a market in 2013 to cater to the needs of his countrymen and -women.

“We are the people of the different taste,” he said Monday behind the counter of the Namaste Grocery Store, 730 Prospect Ave.

The current political climate has been a tense one for many immigrants, with some reading President Donald Trump’s slogan of “America First” as an attempt to blame them for some of the country’s economic problems.

But the economic contributions of immigrants often strengthen local communities, according to a new report from the New American Economy, a bipartisan think tank of mayors and business leaders, including Rupert Murdoch, which argues for immigration reform.

Read the full article from the Times-Tribune: “Report: Immigrant entrepreneurs bolster local economy”
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