America 250: Immigrant Entrepreneurs and the American Dream

By SBE Council at 16 June, 2026, 10:42 pm

Successive generations of immigrant entrepreneurs strengthened communities, expanded opportunity, nurtured innovation, and recharged the American Dream.

By Karen Kerrigan-

From the earliest days of the Republic to today, immigrants have played a central role in solidifying and fueling America’s culture of enterprise, innovation, and opportunity. The stories and success of immigrants – as both workers and business owners – are woven into the larger American story, one defined by belief in the American Dream, hard work, risk-taking, and the principle that individuals should be free to pursue their ambitions and build a better future.

The story is not simply that immigrants came to America. People migrated throughout the world. What made the United States different was the combination of economic freedom, secure property rights, the rule of law, open markets, and a culture that celebrated risk-taking and self-improvement. America transformed aspiration into opportunity.

Immigration Heritage Month – commemorated in June – celebrates immigrants and their countless contributions to America.  My lineage is traced to immigrants who arrived on Ellis Island as a result of Ireland’s Great Famine. They made New York City (starting in Hell’s Kitchen) their home, and they and their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and the list goes on, have worked across various professions – including as small business owners – over the last 150 years. Across generations, the American Dream was pursued and attained by many – good jobs, home ownership, education and college, service to country, and relative financial security.

Kerrigan’s Pleasant Hour. New York City, 42nd Street and 8th Avenue.

The American Dream has never been a guarantee of success. Rather, it has been the promise of opportunity: the freedom to create, compete, innovate, and succeed based on one’s talents, determination, and willingness to take risks. For generations of immigrants arriving on America’s shores, that promise proved powerful.

Throughout our history, newcomers have brought skills, ideas, traditions, and entrepreneurial energy that enriched communities and strengthened the economy. In the 19th century, immigrant entrepreneurs helped build manufacturing enterprises, retail establishments, transportation networks, and agricultural operations that fueled America’s rapid growth. In the early 20th century, immigrant-owned businesses became anchors of neighborhoods across the nation, creating jobs and helping families achieve economic mobility.

Many of America’s most iconic companies were founded or co-founded by immigrants or their children. Their contributions span every sector of the economy – from finance and manufacturing to technology and healthcare. Yet the entrepreneurial impact of immigration is not measured only by the largest and most recognized businesses. It is reflected in the millions of small businesses that have opened their doors on Main Streets, in neighborhoods, and increasingly through digital platforms that allow entrepreneurs to reach customers around the world.

Today, immigrants own or have founded approximately 3 million U.S. small businesses. They make up about 18% of employer firms and 23% of nonemployer businesses, according to the SBA Office of Advocacy. Moreover, nearly half of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.

America’s tradition of economic freedom has created an environment where individuals with limited resources – but paired with abundant ambition – can pursue opportunity and build businesses of their own.

Successive waves of immigrants have continually renewed the entrepreneurial spirit. Each generation has added new ideas, new industries, and new innovations while embracing the enduring values of hard work, self-reliance, community engagement, and optimism about the future.

Iconic American Companies with Immigrant Roots: Immigrant entrepreneurs have helped shape nearly every chapter of America’s economic history.

From Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, who founded DuPont after arriving from France, and Levi Strauss, whose blue jeans became an American icon, to the immigrant founders behind companies such as AT&T, Pfizer, Proctor & Gamble, Goldman Sachs, Kohl’s, Intel, Google, NVIDIA, Tesla, Chobani, eBay, Tesla and SpaceX, newcomers have repeatedly transformed ideas into businesses that created jobs, expanded industries, and improved lives.

The children of immigrants embraced the entrepreneurial tradition, with iconic American brands such as Apple, Amazon, Ford, Disney, McDonald’s, and Costco reflecting the entrepreneurial contributions of first- and second-generation Americans. Our entrepreneurial history illustrates a larger truth: immigrant entrepreneurship is not a side chapter in America’s economic history – it is one of its defining themes.

As we celebrate America 250, we should remember that the American Dream has been continually renewed by those willing to take a chance on themselves and their future. Generation after generation, immigrant entrepreneurs have helped expand opportunity, strengthen communities, create jobs, and drive innovation.

The story of America’s immigrant entrepreneurs reminds us that the nation’s greatest resource has never been a particular industry, technology, or natural asset. It has been people. Individuals willing to take risks, work hard, solve problems, and build something better for themselves and their communities. For 250 years, America has attracted dreamers, builders, and innovators from around the world and provided the freedom and opportunity to turn ambition into achievement. That enduring formula remains one of the nation’s greatest strengths and one of the keys to its future prosperity.

Read more from our AMERICA 250 Special Series: Land of Opportunity and Entrepreneurship

AMERICA 250: America’s Entrepreneurial Founders

AMERICA 250: The Freedom and Spirit to Innovate

America 250: The Tavern, the Print Shop and the Small Business Roots of America’s Founding

AMERICA 250: From the Cotton Gin to ChatGPT: America’s Innovation Story Starts at the Founding

Karen Kerrigan is President & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.