- Press Release
New Reports Shows Immigrants in the Medina Region Paid Over $168 Million in Taxes and Held Nearly $468 Million in Spending Power in 2019
Medina, OHIO, Nov. 8, 2022—New research released by the American Immigration Council—in partnership with the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce, and Ohio Business for Immigration Solutions (OBIS) shows that immigrants contributed $900 million to the Medina, Ohio region’s GDP in 2019.
New Americans in Medina highlights how immigrants fill crucial workforce gaps in the region, in addition to their financial contributions, which included paying $105.1 million in federal taxes and $63.1 million in state and local taxes in 2019. Although immigrants made up 2.5% of the region’s overall population in 2019, they represented 2.7% of its working-age population. A large percentage of immigrants in the Medina region have received post-secondary education, with 40.6% of immigrants age 25 and older holding at least a bachelor’s degree and 18.7% holding an advanced degree, compared to the U.S.-born population at 24.9% and 8.7% respectively. Additionally, immigrants play a critical role in the manufacturing industry across the region, making up 3.4% of its workforce despite making up 2.5% of the total population.
The Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Global Talent Chamber Network, a network that brings together chambers of commerce from across the country who see immigrant integration as an economic growth strategy.
“The Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce is pleased to have worked with the American Immigration Council and Ohio Business for Immigration Solutions to release this timely and in-depth report on immigrants in the Medina region. We previously had great anecdotal evidence on the contribution of immigrants to the region but now we have incredible data to show just how impactful immigrants are to Medina. With this data, area businesses, as well as the Chamber, can better inform future workforce strategy and understand how immigrants can play a vital role,” said Jaclyn Ringstmeier, executive director of the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce.
“This report highlights the crucial role that immigrants play in driving economic growth and innovation in the Medina region,” said Mo Kantner, director of State and Local Initiatives at the American Immigration Council. “Immigrants not only help power key local sectors like manufacturing and STEM, but also start businesses that create jobs both in the region and across Ohio.”
Key findings include:
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Immigrants are bringing much-needed talent. In 2019, 40.6% of immigrants in the Medina region age 25 and older held at least a bachelor’s degree and 18.7% held an advanced degree (a master’s, professional, or doctoral degree).
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Immigrants are filling critical workforce gaps. Although immigrants made up 2.5% of the region’s overall population, they represented 7.3% of STEM workers, 3.6% of professional service workers, and 3.4% of all workers in the manufacturing industry in 2019.
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Immigrants foster an entrepreneurial spirit. In 2019, despite making up 2.5% of the Medina region’s overall population, 3.3% of immigrants were entrepreneurs. In the region, immigrants were 33% more likely to be entrepreneurs than their U.S.-born counterparts.
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Immigrants help create or preserve local manufacturing jobs. In the Medina region, immigrants strengthened the local job market by allowing companies to keep jobs on U.S. soil, helping preserve or create 900 local manufacturing jobs that would have otherwise vanished or moved elsewhere by 2019.
Click here to read the full report, New Americans in Medina.
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For more information, contact:
Brianna Dimas, [email protected], (202) 507-7557
The American Immigration Council works to strengthen America by shaping how America thinks about and acts towards immigrants and immigration and by working toward a more fair and just immigration system that opens its doors to those in need of protection and unleashes the energy and skills that immigrants bring. The Council brings together problem solvers and employs four coordinated approaches to advance change—litigation, research, legislative and administrative advocacy, and communications. In January 2022, the Council and New American Economy merged to combine a broad suite of advocacy tools to better expand and protect the rights of immigrants, more fully ensure immigrants’ ability to succeed economically, and help make the communities they settle in more welcoming. Follow the latest Council news and information on ImmigrationImpact.com and Twitter @immcouncil.