Before you read the rest of this...Please click on this powerful video. 

NJIEA - Albert Einstein Award for Innovation | John T. Lau

As a leader in New Jersey's technology sector, Einstein's Alley strongly recognizes the need for immigration reform legislation.  In part to demonstrate that commitment, Einstein's Alley was a founding sponsor of the Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards.  And we are proud to announce the opening of nominations for the 2nd Annual New Jersey Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards.

Just this past week, we presented at an Immigration Roundtable at the New Jersey Statehouse to bring attention to the views on immigration reform of the business and technology communities. 

In New Jersey, foreign-born individuals like John Lau of Applied Info, the winner of the Albert Einstein Award for Innovation, featured in this video, have created more than one in three new businesses in recent years, ranking New Jersey behind only California, New York, and Florida.  These companies started by immigrants generate an annual business income of $6.2 billion in New Jersey.

We believe that rather than send qualified foreign-born advance-degree graduates of U.S. colleges and universities back home to compete against U.S. businesses, Congress should encourage these individuals to stay in the United States by offering them permanent resident status.  We can further buttress our competitive edge, by expanding the H-1B visa program, which makes available to U.S. businesses some of the world's most highly-trained professionals in fields across the business sector. What's more, a significant portion of H-1B filing fees fund education and training programs to enhance the skills of U.S. workers, particularly in the technology fields.

So, Einstein's Alley is proud to collaborate for the second year with other New Jersey groups, including regional and bi-national chambers of commerce, immigrant advocacy groups, and other community organizations to celebrate the important role of immigrants in today's economy and to honor the contributions of immigrant business leaders to their communities.

This year, we will be honoring immigrants for their achievements in growth, advocacy, innovation, sustainability, and leadership, and we will name the 2014 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year.

Are you an immigrant entrepreneur who has excelled in one of these fields?  Do you know someone, a family member, neighbor, or friend, who you think has what it takes to be named the 2014 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year?  Nominate them at http://njieawards.org.  

Watch our all the inspiring videos featuring last year's winners at http://www.youtube.com/user/NJIEAwards.

Some surprising bedfellows in the business community also stress the importance of immigration reform

From CNN...Buffett, Adelson & Gates: Pass immigration 

These billionaires are calling on Congress to pass an immigration overhaul. 

In a New York Times editorial Friday, big Republican donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson joined forces with Berkshire Hathway (BRKA) CEO Warren Buffett, a friend of President Obama's, and Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) founder Bill Gates.

"It's time for the House to draft and pass a bill that reflects both our country's humanity and its self-interest," they wrote, citing immigrants' purchasing power, unique abilities, and financial resources, as reasons for why it would be good for the country. 

[Read More]

RFP Watch

From US 1...

RFP Watch 2.0, powered by Choose NJ, is a subscription-based database service that offers NJ companies access to public and private Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and Requests for Information (RFIs), as well as other business opportunities throughout the region.

The online service aggregates information from more than 30,000 public and private sources, offers about 500 opportunities a day, and ultimately delivers more than 7,000 contract leads per month. Users will find the expected RFPs and RFIs for construction, contracting, architectural, and engineering jobs. But RFP Watch also offers accounting, marketing, healthcare, IT, equipment sales, and other business service proposals. 

While the subscription service is only open to businesses with New Jersey locations, companies in nearby states can post their requests.

To sign up for RFP Watch, go to https://rfpwatch.choosenj.com/.

Entrepreneurship is Alive and Well not only in Einstein's Alley But Around the Globe

GEW 2013: A WORLD OF IMPACT

The Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013 Impact Report was recently released to an audience of thousands during the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Moscow. From the involvement and support of 126 heads of state and cabinet-level ministers to promising young startups emerging around the world, the report outlines the highlights from last November's GEW and provides a glance at what lies ahead in the upcoming years.

The strength of the GEW network lies in its hosts from 140 countries that inspire and connect entrepreneurs as they work throughout the year to strengthen their local and national ecosystems. 2013 saw 22 new organizations join the network as GEW hosts and launch inspirational campaigns that propelled 9,925 partners to hold 25,621 events, activities and competitions during one week.

At its core, GEW is a platform created to inspire and connect entrepreneurs with mentors, investors as well as their peers -- fellow entrepreneurs. A 2013 report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundationfound that there is a direct link between people knowing entrepreneurs and deciding to become entrepreneurs themselves. This study further reinforces a belief that GEW has been operating on since its inception in 2008, that creating connections is paramount to further strengthening the global entrepreneurship ecosystem.

While having more than 6 million participants around the world take part in GEW is impressive, its true success is measured in the lives it positively impacts. Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week, outlined an ambitious agenda for GEW to better support a maturing collection of entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world over the next three years.

• Expanding the number of ordinary citizens working for or starting firms around the world by fully legitimizing entrepreneurs in all cultures and economies. The world needs more entrepreneurs.
• Increasing understanding between the new and traditional elements of emerging startup communities and ecosystems including the constructive engagement of the public sector in supporting entrepreneur designed public programs. It takes a village where everyone collaborates to succeed.
• Supporting the emergence of a new class of global entrepreneurs supported through access to research, programs and networks inside the 140 nation strong GEW network. National boundaries are porous to innovation and a new creative class of risk takers is hard-wired to a global network.
• Connecting an emerging community of national startup policy advisors with a next generation network of world-class entrepreneurship research institutions in an effort to generate more robust research and data to support evidence- based policymaking and more effective entrepreneurial support programming. In short, data and analysis on what works and what does not in helping new firm formation.

With the successes of 2013 come challenges in years ahead. To face these challenges and support new missions created to better support entrepreneurial ecosystems on a global scale, GEW is launching a slate of new partnerships and initiatives including GEC2, the GEW Startup Nations network, the Global Entrepreneurship Library, Global Creativity United, the GEW Mindset Project and more.

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2014 will be taking place November 17 - 23, 2014.

[Download the full 2013 Impact Report]

2014 Siemer Summit

A meeting to know about...The 4th annual invitation-only Siemer Summit, to be held July 16 - 17, 2014 at Casa Del Mar and Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, California. Building on the success of the last three Summits, which drew notable attendees from around the world, this year's event will encompass two days of presentations, networking and relationship-building among key players in the digital media and technology industry. All segments of the digital media industry will be represented, including advertising, media, data, eCommerce, software, social and gaming.

 Our 2014 two-day Summit will include over 500 digital media and technology leaders.

 20% of all participants will hail from foreign nations, facilitating international business discussions and partnerships.

 Summit attendance is limited to select venture capital partners, entrepreneurs and C-level media executives.

 The Summit will remain an invitation-only event, with invitees carefully selected to ensure that the event includes only the most accomplished digital media executives in the industry.

 The Summit will include 70 company presentations from entrepreneurs, 30 featured speakers, 40 early stage award nominees, 50 judges, a series of roundtable discussions and a closing awards ceremony.

Find out more on our Summit Website.

The Einstein's Alley website is for you. Check the Directory section and see the companies listed that you need to know.

It's also a great place for visibility for your company so contact kkish@einsteinsalley.org for information on membership and how to get a highlighted listing in the Directory or, go to the website and download the form.

Katherine

KKish@einsteinsalley.org

What is Einstein's Alley?

Einstein's Alley's purpose is to attract, build and retain technology-based businesses in Central New Jersey. Einstein's Alley collaborates and coordinates with existing governmental and private sector organizations to grow the region as a magnet for entrepreneurial activity and as a globally recognized economic powerhouse.