Business groups going international

CNY Business Journal (1996+), May 11, 2001 by Allen, Paul

In an effort to improve Central New York's work force and stimulate economic development, two business organizations are initiating programs aimed at recruiting, training, and assimilating immigrants and refugees to the area.

The Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce's government affairs council recently created an International Chamber of Commerce to help current and potential immigrant-owned small businesses prosper in the area. The idea was the brainchild of Mohawk Valley Chamber President Robert Fowler and two members of the Chamber's board of directors Maria Marszalek, senior sales and service representative at Fleet Bank; and Artur Pyrda, president of Control Experts, a Utica-based company that specializes in controls, automation, and robotics.

Fowler said that Marszalek and Pyrda felt that "if refugees or others from outside the United States had their own business group, they would be more likely to prosper in business, or be more comfortable in starting a business. So we held a meeting and our International Chamber of Commerce, Mohawk Valley chapter, was born."

Marszalek and Pyrda, both natives of Poland, agree that doing business in the United States is much different from doing business in Europe and other countries. Pyrda, who has been in the U.S. since 1981, says that, until recently, businesspeople in Eastern European countries rarely used checks or credit cards in business transactions.

"Everything is done with checks here," Pyrda says, "but there, it's cash or nothing. Plastic is coming into play more now, but checks just aren't popular. They're never used." He says it wouldn't be uncommon to see a businessman purchase a new piece of equipment for his business with a suitcase full of money instead of writing a check.

Marszalek says that cultural differences make it difficult for some refugees and immigrants who live in the Mohawk Valley to fully realize their entrepreneurial po tential. "If you want to open a business in Europe, you have to have money," she says. "In America, if you want to open a business, you come to the bank and get a loan. Many refugees work two or three jobs because they think they need the cash. They don't know about loans or mortgages."

Another obvious difference, Pyrda says, is the lack of businessrelated organizations like chambers of commerce. "I was in Poland a few months ago and I was talking to some businesspeople there. Their businesses are facing similar problems that we are being faced with here - job creation and the uncertain economy. All that is similar from country to country. But when I asked them if they had an organization like a chamber of commerce where they could join and network with other businesses, they thought it was a great idea but they didn't have anything like that."

Pyrda says the international chamber's agenda for the upcoming months includes basic business seminars and meetings where members can network, discuss problems, and offer each other advice. One of the first seminars, Pyrda says, will be called "Show Me the Money," which deals with grants, loans, how to go about getting them, where to go, and whom to see. "There are a lot of organizations in this area and a lot of people who can help small businesses. We would like to get that information out there so the business owners can take advantage of these resources,"

With only one meeting under its belt, the international chamber of commerce already has more than 16 members. Pyrda says that he wouldn't be surprised if the group doubled or tripled its membership in the next few months.

In Syracuse, the Metropolitan Development Association is directing almost $500,000 from its $2.5 million Workforce Development Initiative toward the implementation of an accelerated refugee training and placement program. Terry Loftus, job developer at the Syracuse Refugee Assistance Program on Park Street in Syracuse, says that approximately 600 to 700 immigrants come into the greater Syracuse area every year. And many of them, although they are professionally trained, cannot find comparable jobs because of language and cultural barriers.

"The three main purposes of the Workforce Development grant are transportation, translation and interpretation, and training," Loftus says. "This grant will help us obtain transportation, interpreters, and fund training programs that will help both immigrants and local businesses." While Loftus says the immigrant-focused programs are not a "cure-all" to the area's work-force problems, they are, he says, a step in the right direction.