Media Advisory

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Contact: Reka Barabas @ (216) 929-0677 or at reka.barabas@ohio.tie.org

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DETROIT, CLEVELAND, PITTSBURGH WELCOME IMMIGRANT TALENT

Richard Herman, TiE Ohio Co-Chair and Co-Author of “Immigrant, Inc.,” to participate in
Global Midwest panel discussion at TiECon Midwest Conference

Who: Richard Herman, Co-Chair of TiE Ohio and Co-Author of Immigrant, Inc. --- Why
Immigrant Entrepreneurs Are Driving the New Economy

What: TiECon (The International Entrepreneurs, formerly The Indus Entrepreneurs)

Midwest Conference

Where: The Henry (formerly the Ritz Carlton) in Dearborn, Michigan

When: Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 1p.m. EST;

Open press call immediately following at 3p.m. EST

Contact: During the press call, representatives of the media will be hosted by John Austin,
who currently serves as the vice president of the Michigan Board of Education, as
well as a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

To access the media call, dial (712) 451-6100, access code 738632#.

Questions about the Global Midwest panel discussion at TiECon or the following
press call can be addressed to Steve Tobocman at (313) 516-9681 or
steve.tobocman@gmail.com

Description:

The Midwest’s economic future increasingly is being hinged upon attracting immigrants who
innovate, create businesses and revitalize distressed urban neighborhoods.

After months of collaboration, leaders of immigrant attraction and retention efforts in Detroit,
Cleveland and Pittsburgh are scheduled for their first-ever joint appearance this Thursday. Armed
with economic and statistical data demonstrating that immigrants to these midwestern metropolitan
areas create jobs, rather than displace workers, the leaders will participate in a panel discussion at
the TiECon Midwest Conference, the Midwest's largest conference on entrepreneurship. The theme
of the discussion is Global Midwest.
Media Advisory
Global Midwest panel discussion
Page 2

Participating on the panel will be Audrey Russo, president and chief executive officer of the
Pittsburgh Technology Council, Steve Tobocman, former majority floor leader of the Michigan
House of Representatives, and Richard Herman, author of “Immigrant, Inc.” and co-chair of the
Ohio Chapter of TiE .

“I witness the unfulfilled demand for global talent every day in Pittsburgh’s technology and high-
growth industries,” said Russo. “We cannot sit idly by while our tech entrepreneurs, the Henry
Ford’s of the 21st Century, leave our universities for Silicon Valley and the coasts. We must attract
and retain the fuel that feeds the New Economy right here in the industrial and manufacturing
heartland. Pittsburgh’s recent success cannot be sustained without this vital international talent. To
that end, Pittsburgh has been supporting a Welcome Mat initiative to insure new international
residents have access to services, and it has been refining its pitch to global tech workers and
engineers as a great place to live, work and play.”

The Pittsburgh Technology Council soon will release its annual State of the Industry Report. This
year’s report shows that in the 13-county southwestern Pennsylvania region, there are more than
8,200 technology establishments (including health services counted as part of the life sciences
industry cluster), which represents more than 11 percent of all companies in the region. These firms
employ more than 231,000 individuals and account for 18.6 percent of the area’s overall workforce.
The $13.9 billion total annual payroll of these technology and related companies represents more
than 26.2 percent of the region’s wages.

Detroit and Cleveland also have begun to build their own individual efforts to retain and attract
immigrants. Detroit’s Tobocman has been spearheading Global Detroit, an initiative to grow
southeast Michigan’s economy by attracting and retaining global talent and investment. Global
Detroit released a comprehensive study in May, helped secure $200,000 in funding from the Ford
Foundation for the Welcoming Michigan initiative and will be developing multi-year funding for 11
strategic programs.

“We must get beyond the hysteria surrounding immigration and onto the facts,” said Tobocman.
“Immigrants are having an indisputably and enormously powerful and positive impact on
Michigan’s economic future.”

Global Cleveland, whose executive advisory board includes Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and
major business leaders, is planning on launching an International Welcome Center that helps
connect immigrants and international visitors to the resources and opportunities in Northeast Ohio.
Entities in Cleveland and Pittsburgh have recently secured the federal designation of a new regional
investor visa center to enable foreign investors to invest in Cleveland and Pittsburgh businesses that
hire local residents, while securing legal residency for the investor.

“This new conversation about immigrants’ enormous contributions to our innovation and economic
prosperity is beginning to gain traction, both within and outside of the rust belt,” said Cleveland’s
Herman. He also cited the Great Lakes’ Metropolitan Chambers of Commerce high-skill
immigration policy, as well as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch's
new initiative, the Partnership for a New American Economy, as evidence of the growing call for
national and regional strategies that embrace immigrant talent and ingenuity.

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