MALDEN, MA-Five Indian-american business owners have been nominated for the 2017 Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards this year. The winners will be announced on May 4, 2017, at The Immigrant Learning Center’s sixth annual Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards.
Thirty-six Massachusetts residents from 23 countries who founded businesses in 19 Massachusetts communities will be honored by more than 250 business and community leaders. The nominees represent outstanding business leaders from across the commonwealth in four business categories: growth, neighborhood, high-tech and life science. A committee of experts in each area will review the nominations and select a winner in each category.
The 2017 winners will be announced at The ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards Dinner on Thursday, May 4, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., with special guest speaker Jeff Bussgang, general partner at Flybridge Capital, and Master of Ceremonies Larry O’Toole, founder of Gentle Giant Moving Company and 2016 nominee.
The 2017 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Award Nominees
Business Growth
According to data from the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development, private employers increased their workforce by 6.3 percent from 2013 to 2016. The five nominees in the Business Growth category increased their number of full-time-equivalent employees by 40 to 388 percent during the same time frame. The nominees for The 2017 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Award in Business Growth are:
Jose de la Rosa, Guardian Healthcare in Jamaica Plain
from Dominican Republic
Vijay Nalamada, Avco Consulting in Worcester
from India
David Nguyen, US Bedding Inc. in Fall River
from Vietnam
Daniel Perez, DPV Transportation Worldwide in East Boston
from Colombia
Amir Shiranian, Amelia’s Taqueria, Inc. in Boston and Brighton
from Iran
Neighborhood Business
Small businesses are the lifeblood of many neighborhoods. They provide needed goods and services, local jobs, and they give back to their communities. The nominees for The 2017 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Award in Neighborhood Business are:
Jitka Borowick, Cleangreen, Inc. in Barnstable
from Czech Republic
Mario Cruz, Mario’s Subs and Salads in Roxbury
from Guatemala
Yessy Feliz, Tails, Inc. in Jamaica Plain
from Dominican Republic
Kham Inthirath, Envision Digital Group in Worcester
from Laos
Rowaid Khudhur, STELA TECH in Worcester
from Iraq
Josefina Luna, CERO in Boston
from Dominican Republic
Valentin Maldonado, Continental Construction Group LLC in Lynn
from Guatemala
Mike Mohamed, Il Forno Restaurant in Acton, Fitchburg and West Boylston
from Egypt
Monica Ryan, Strawberry Child Care in Watertown
from Colombia
Harley Silva, Cape Cod Marble & Granite, Inc. in Hyannis
from Brazil
Myra Vargas, J & P Cleaners in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale
from Guatemala
High-Tech
The nominees in the high-tech category have each made remarkable contributions in their fields and to the American innovation economy. They are at the cutting edge of technologies as diverse as mobile technology, digital health, ed-tech, cyber security, internet of things (IOT) and clean energy. The nominees for The 2017 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Award in High-Tech are:
Raj Aggarwal, Localytics in Boston
from Canada
Ahmed Albaiti, Medullan Inc. in Cambridge
from Tanzania
Sandro Catanzaro, DataXu in Boston
from Peru
Joshua Feast, Cogito Corporation in Boston
from New Zealand
Lingping Gao, NetBrain in Burlington
from China
Lissy Hu, CarePort Health in Boston
from China
Minh (Sam) Le, HeliDirect LLC in Malden
from Vietnam
Jennifer Lum, Adelphic Mobile in Waltham
from Canada
Bhaskar Panigrahi, Unique Computing, Cambridge Technology, CellExchange, ConnectM Technology Solutions, Ecovent Systems and Cambridge Energy Resources
from India
Luis Pedroso, Accutronics in Chelmsford
from Portugal
Anil Shah, MRCC Solutions in Billerica
from India
Elad Shoushan, Ready4 in Boston
from Israel
Nagarjuna Venna, BitSight Technologies in Cambridge
from India
Life Science
Immigrant entrepreneurs are a critical component to Massachusetts’ reputation as a leading life science ecosystem. These founders are making significant breakthroughs that impact the health and well-being of us all. The nominees for The 2017 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur Award in Life Science are:
Johannes Fruehauf, BioLabs and LabCentral in Cambridge
from Germany
Michael Koeris, Sample 6 Technologies in Woburn
from Germany
Alexey Margolin, Allena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Newton
from Russia
Salvatore Mascia, CONTINUUS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Woburn
from Italy
Bernat Olle, Vedanta Biosciences in Cambridge
from Spain
Ajikumar Parayil, Manus Bio in Cambridge
from India
Shahin Pourrahimi, Superconducting Systems in Billerica
from Iran
The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. (ILC) of Malden, MA, is a not-for-profit organization that gives immigrants a voice in three ways. The English Language Program provides free, year-round English classes to immigrant and refugee adults in Greater Boston to help them become successful workers, parents and community members. The Public Education Institute informs Americans about the economic and social contributions of immigrants in , and the Institute for Immigration Research, a joint venture with George Mason University, conducts research on the economic contributions of immigrants.
