Maybe it's the intense hunger to succeed combined with the appeal of a free market that's unparalleled in the world, but immigrants to our county are responsible for more and more new businesses every year.

New Jersey ranks fourth in the country of states where immigrants open new businesses in recent years, according to the NJ Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards organization.Only California, New York and Florida have more immigrant entrepreneurs than we do. That's an incredible statistic, given the fairly small size of our state.

More than a third of new businesses in recent years have been started by immigrants, the awards group says. This is not a new story in New Jersey. Waves of immigrants have settled here for centuries after arriving in the United states.

It's the backbone of our economy and makes our state stronger and more vibrant. If you know of an immigrant entrepreneur, you can nominate them for the NJ Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards, being presented this coming Oct. 8 at Rutgers University. The vast majority of immigrants in NJ came here legally and work extremely hard to make their "American Dream" happen. Click the link and make sure to get your good suit out of the dry cleaner's for Oct. 8.

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