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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
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
