THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, November 8, 2019 Page 11 IMMIGRANT | FROM PAGE 8 present, “Thank you, not only for joining us this evening, but for coming to this country and making us stronger.” This year’s nominees were 38 entrepreneurs from 26 countries. More than 2,000 people in 39 communities, from Hyannis to Springfi eld, have jobs because of them. Winners were selected from four categories that represent four sectors where immigrants have an outsized impact: Neighborhood, Life Science, High-Tech and Growth. Although they created four very diff erent businesses in diff erent industries, they all share a desire to have a positive impact on their community, employees, industry and the United States. Larry Kim is an immigrant from Canada and the recipient of the 2019 Award for Neighborhood Business. He founded WordStream, Inc. in 2008 and MobileMonkey, Inc. in 2017 in Boston. He has given jobs to nearly 1,000 people over the past decade and, through his technology, has helped thousands of other businesses to grow. Kim said, “This is the most meaningful honor of my professional career.” In accepting the award, he said that he sees entrepreneurship as a virtuous calling because, “As immigrant entrepreneurs, I believe our most valuable contribution to society is in leveraging our unique pioneering spirit to create tens, hundreds or even thousands of meaningful job opportunities.” Yessy Feliz is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic and the recipient of the 2019 Award for Neighborhood Business. In 2012 she founded doggy daycare, boarding and pet food retailer Tails, Inc., the fi rst of its kind in her Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Feliz sees her business as not only a way to serve her customers but also a way to provide careers and economic development to the community. She thanked her employees; some of them have been with her from the start. She said she prefers to hire people “that society thinks are not good enough, and I give them second chances.” She says her goal is to “give up all my knowledge because at one point in my life I was given that, so the only thing I can do is give back.” In fact, she expects some of her employees will be ready to start their own businesses soon, and she says “I will be supporting them 100 percent.” Bernat Olle is an immigrant from Spain and the recipient of the 2019 Award for Life Science Business. He founded Vedanta Biosciences, and he was a member of the founding teams of several other life science companies. Vedanta, which employs 81 people, has developed clinical candidates for the treatment of infectious disease, infl ammatory bowel disease, food allergy and cancer using the human microbiome. In accepting the award, he said that despite all the anti-immigrant activity in recent years, “America is an extremely welcoming country to immigrants. We keep coming here, generation after generation, because Shown from left to right are Larry Kim, founder of WordStream and MobileMonkey in Boston; Yessy Feliz, founder of Tails, Inc. in Jamaica Plain; Joseph Ngaruiya, founder of A Better Life Homecare in Springfi eld; and Bernat Olle, founder of Vedanta Biosciences, Inc. in Cambridge. (Courtesy Photo) no other country on earth comes close to it when it comes to freedom and opportunity.” Joseph Ngaruiya is an immigrant from Kenya and the recipient of the 2019 Award for Business Growth. He founded A Better Life Homecare in Springfi eld to ensure that low-income elderly people could receive care at home with their families. A Better Life serves approximately 300 clients in Massachusetts and Connecticut, has grown employment by 233 percent in the last three years and earns approximately $5.5 million annually. In accepting the award, Ngaruiya thanked his parents who he said worked 90 hours a week when he was a newly arrived child in America, “just to put food on the table.” He also thanked his employees, to whom he said, “There is really no me without you.” Lastly, he thanked all the communiAN EVENING WITH AYLA BROWN AND ROB BELLAMY NOV. 21st, 2019 To benefit the Alexander Gentile Memorial Scholarship Fund. Tickets are $25. Buffet and entertainment included. To purchase tickets, contact Penny Gentile at 781-608-2859. Mixx 360 - 665 Broadway Malden, MA 02148 ties they serve for allowing them into their homes and to provide services. Information about all the nominees for the Barry M. Portnoy Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards can be found on ILC’s website: www.ilctr.org.
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