On May 4, 2017, at The Immigrant Learning Center’s sixth annual Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards, 36 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, 2017, 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. Ticket and sponsorship information is available at www.ilctr.org.

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

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

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

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:

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 our society, and the Institute for Immigration Research, a joint venture with George Mason University, conducts research on the economic contributions of immigrants.

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