Global EIR Program

The Global EIR Program (GEIR) is an initiative to support both universities' entrepreneurship and cities' economic development through active engagement with international entrepreneurs. By providing qualified international entrepreneurs with access to a long-term work visa, founders, in turn, serve as mentors and advisors to the local university's entrepreneurial programs. By retaining high-quality entrepreneurs in the local communities, participating universities and cities will potentially unlock growth opportunity through continuous innovation.

History

Early in 2014, Jeff Bussgang from Flybridge Capital Partners and Jeff Goldman, and immigration lawyer based in Massachusetts,, started to experiment the idea to build a program that benefits the city economy by keeping global talents in Massachusetts^[1].With the support from Governor Deval Patrick, the program was piloted at the University of Massachusetts Boston and led by William Bran at the Venture Development Center. With the success of the pilot program, the idea was later developed into the Global EIR Coalition, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.^[2] Funded by Jeff Bussgang and Brad Feld from Foundry Group and led by Craig Montuori and Christopher Nicholson, the Global EIR Coalition exports and open-sources the success of the pilot program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. It supports other states around the country to set up and run their own Global EIR mentor programs and connects immigrant founders with those programs. The initiative is widely viewed as a path to solve immigrant founder's visa issue^[3] and to retain high-quality international talents to drive innovation in the USA. With legislative action likely stalled for years, the parole program is the temporary solution for the growing startup community in the country.

The Department of Homeland Security estimates that about 3,000 entrepreneurs^[4] will use the parole program each year. Based on The Kauffman Foundation estimates, in 5 years, Global EIR Coalition will facilitate the creation of 65 new companies and about 300 new jobs^[5] in just a single city, St. Louis.

Development

Global EIR Program open-source^[6] its visa approach to participating universities and states.

The program was piloted at Venture Development Center of University of Massachusetts Boston in Massachusetts.^[7] It has then expanded to six states (Massachusetts, Colorado, Missouri, Alaska, Illinois and California) with 13 university partners.^[8] Within two years of operation, the Global EIR Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston has built 29 new companies and created 382 new jobs. The program has accepted a broad range of startups, like PillPack, Tengu, doDoc, Keel, Humon,^[9] that contribute to various industry verticals.

References