An Anonymous Nashville CEO on Immigration, Labor, and Economic Growth

On January 5th, I conducted an interview with a Nashville-based business owner to discuss immigration, labor, and the role migrants play in the local economy. The business owner arrived in the United States in 1989, just two years old, brought by his parents in search of opportunity. Today, he is the owner and CEO of a Nashville-based company employing workers from a range of backgrounds, many of whom are immigrants or recent arrivals to the United States.

Growing up, entrepreneurship was familiar. His parents ran their own businesses, working hard but often without access to the information and structural support needed to grow. “They knew how to do the work,” he explained, “but they didn’t always know how to run the business.” Watching those struggles shaped his own path. Rather than pursuing a traditional office career, he chose to build something of his own, using the lessons his parents never had access to.

One of the biggest challenges he faced as a migrant entrepreneur, he says, was not discrimination, but information. “In a lot of immigrant communities, especially Latino communities, people know how to work. What they don’t always know is how the system works here.” Business structures in the U.S., he noted, are very different from those in Latin America, and that gap can slow progress for otherwise capable entrepreneurs.

His company employs anyone willing to work and do the job well. While many of his employees have legal status, fear remains widespread. “Even when people are legal, the climate we live in makes them scared,” he said, referencing media coverage and political rhetoric surrounding immigration. That fear has real consequences. At times, workers have stayed home or quit altogether after seeing immigration-related news, disrupting operations and hurting both employees and employers.

“There’s already a labor shortage,” he explained. “When people don’t show up because they’re scared, it affects everything.” While he encourages workers to stay informed and rely on their legal counsel, he acknowledges that fear is not always rational and unfounded.

Despite employing many immigrants, he resists framing migrant workers as fundamentally different from anyone else. “A hard worker is a hard worker,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from.” What matters, in his view, is accountability. “If someone does bad things, they shouldn’t be protected. But you can’t judge everyone by the actions of a few.”

From a business perspective, he believes immigration has been essential to Nashville’s growth. Having watched the city transform over decades, he credits population growth, including immigrant communities, for driving economic expansion. “More people means more demand. People need food, clothes, and housing. That money moves through the city, and that’s why investors come.”

He worries that restricting immigration would reverse that progress. “If you take people out of the system, the investments disappear,” he said. “Cities don’t grow without people.”

While acknowledging that no system is perfect, the CEO emphasized the importance of balance between legality and humanity. “As a business owner, you stay on the legal side. Always. But that doesn’t mean you stop caring about people.”

Reflecting on the broader community, he remains optimistic. Despite political division online and on television, he believes Nashville’s communities are stronger than they appear. “Most people, when it comes down to it, would help each other even if they disagree politically.”

His message is ultimately one of perseverance and cooperation. “You might lose a few battles,” he said, “but the goal is to win the long-term war, where we recognize that we need each other to prosper.”