Name of your business.
Center for New Americans
Your name and position.
Laurie Millman, Executive Director
What inspired you to start your business? How did your business get started?
Our organization was started close to 25 years ago to welcome and serve immigrants in Western Massachusetts and to help them to integrate into the economic and civic life of the community.
Tell us a little bit about your business.
First and foremost, we teach English. If immigrants are not able to speak English, they are locked out of the community and unable to access resources. We teach basic computer skills, we teach literacy classes, and we teach career pathways classes.
We also help people with citizenship applications and other immigration legal services.
Our students and clients are able to obtain drivers’ licenses, purchase homes, start small businesses, and build new lives for themselves here with just a modest investment of time and effort on our part.
What is your favorite thing to do in your business?
Speak with our students and clients about where they are from, why they have come to the U.S., what their dreams are, and what goals they have accomplished already.
If nothing else, what is the one piece of information you want someone to know about your business?
That we are a small staff who leverage the good will and efforts of many volunteers to give a helping hand to newcomers.
What is the one piece of business advice you would like to share?
The immigrants in our community are helping to fill positions which are vital to our economy and they are responsible for most of the region’s population growth in recent years.