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Somersworth – On Wednesday, January 25th, Amy Bassett, the NH district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration announced the signing of a Strategic Alliance Memorandum (SAM) with Ms. Raude Raychel, Founder and President of Indonesia Community Connect Inc. (ICC) in Somersworth, NH.
The purpose of the SAM is to develop and foster a mutual understanding and a working relationship between the SBA and Indonesia Community Connect Inc. ICC and SBA will work together to connect the Indonesian community to business resources. The mission of the SBA is to provide aid, counseling, business development assistance, SBA financing, government contracting, and access to workshops and events.
“We are excited to formalize our connection with ICC and affirm our commitment to provide its community members greater access to SBA’s many resources for new entrepreneurs and emerging businesses. SBA is dedicated to ensuring that our programs and services are widely accessible to all entrepreneurs, and we remain steadfast in reaching underserved communities. Our new partnership with the Indonesian community affirms our pledge to addressing barriers that diverse business owners face,” stated Amy Bassett, NH SBA district director.
“This is such an historical moment for ICC. This partnership highlights the hard work of the team as we work together with a U.S. Federal Agency. The SBA will work hand in hand with ICC providing critical small business resources to Indonesian and NH communities. This opens doors for many, as we establish direct access to information resources, facilitate mutual understanding among different cultures and values, and promote the richness of the Indonesian cultural diversity. ICC will be a platform and channel to many local and Indonesian entrepreneurs with interests in small business startups and trade of import/export with Indonesia.
All in all, we are building the momentum toward a longer vision of an economic and cultural hub, the world’s first Little Indonesia in New Hampshire,” stated Raude Raychel, Founder and President of Indonesia Community Connect Inc.
The Indonesia Community Connect Inc. is a non-profit organization based in NH with the focus to connect the Indonesian community with the surrounding area through community support services. It serves as the hub of resources for its stakeholders involved with the people in its immediate community, the local government and valued collaborators in Indonesia to facilitate mutual understanding among different cultures and values.
BY LOIS R. SHEA, SENIOR WRITER AND COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Original publication: https://www.nhcf.org/what-were-up-to/this-benefits-the-whole-community/
Raude Raychel has a clear — and bold — vision. She, along with a team of dedicated volunteers, public officials and international diplomats, are on the way to making it a reality.
Raychel is the executive director and founder of the nonprofit Indonesia Community Connects in Somersworth. Her vision: To create, in a revitalized economic center of downtown, the country’s only Little Indonesia district — drawing business and tourism, while driving community strength and connection. It will include a welcoming archway and urban park, businesses, a food hall, a museum of Indonesia, outdoor stage and a cultural center.
The current Little Indonesia Center, where ICC is now housed, already provides a hub for people to gather, enjoy events and access community resources — plus purchase an array of goods imported from Indonesia.
Somersworth is already being billed as having “The only Little Indonesia in the United States.”
“It’s all about putting Somersworth on the map. This benefits the whole community,” Raychel said.
The combination of community connection and business and tourism development is already proving powerful for this small city on New Hampshire’s Seacoast.
“From my perspective, it’s extraordinary,” said Robin Comstock, the city’s economic development manager. The Little Indonesia project, she said, demonstrates Somersworth’s desire to welcome people and helps promote the city to businesses. “It brings state, regional and national attention to the city, provides educational experiences and is perceived as an advantage and an attribute,” she said.
Somersworth has been home to an Indonesian community for decades. Expressed as a percentage, this small city has the largest Indonesian population in the country, with 17 percent of Somersworth’s 12,000 people identifying as Indonesian.
Raychel’s dad was the first Indonesian pastor in the Seacoast area, arriving to minister to a small group of Indonesian families in the 1990s. By the time Raychel was 10, she was acting as a language interpreter for her family and community, helping people navigate the systems and structures of their new homeland.
Raychel left New Hampshire to study business tourism at NYU and then earn a master’s in business management with a focus on growth strategy at Harvard. She studied Chinatown neighborhoods and their effect on economic development, tourism and community connection. Then she brought all that education and expertise back to serve her hometown. (She still works as a business consultant while serving in her role at ICC as a volunteer.)
“You can have greater impact by creating something in a smaller space,” Raychel said. “This vision is about how much we care about the city.”
The annual Somersworth Indonesian Festival — featuring food, performances and activities — draws people from all over New England. This year’s festival featured the regent of Mimika of the Indonesian province of Papua.
Indonesian government leaders and diplomats, including the Indonesian vice ambassador to the U.S., have visited and are promoting Little Indonesia. When the Indonesian flag was raised in Somersworth to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day, the event made the news in Indonesia.
Each ICC event builds toward a larger goal. The Little Indonesia Café and the Indonesian Night Market, held at the Indonesian Community Center, provide a venue for local caterers to promote their delicacies, test products and build a following. At the same time, Raychel has connected these local entrepreneurs with the Small Business Development Center, so that when the Little Indonesia Food Court eventually opens, they will be ready to set up shop.
And the nonprofit provides an array of services to meet the needs of the Somersworth community. ICC held a Covid vaccine clinic open to the entire community soon after vaccines became available, provides space that is open for members of Congress to hold open hours for constituents, and hosts job fairs to connect local people with employment opportunities.
The organization is plugged into the specific needs of the region’s Indonesian residents, providing a range of community supports, including interpretation and translation, immigration support, connection to health care resources, workforce and business development, acting as a liaison with law enforcement and more. During the height of the pandemic, Raychel learned that emergency food supplies that were being made available were sometimes going to waste — particularly because Indonesian elders were not accustomed to cooking with things like milk and cheese. So ICC created a partnership with Gather, a hunger-relief nonprofit in Portsmouth, to offer culturally appropriate food that would go to better use in the community.
Raychel hopes the full Little Indonesia district will be developed by 2026.
“I want more people to really see what this vision is all about,” Raychel said, “and how we can grow together and thrive together in the community.”
Original publication: https://www.nhcf.org/what-were-up-to/this-benefits-the-whole-community/
NASHUA — Welcoming America, a national nonprofit organization, announced Monday that five U.S. cities and counties achieved or were redesignated as Certified Welcoming places. Nashua, NH was among the designees and is the first city in New Hampshire to attain it, and one of the first in the Northeast.
“We are pleased to announce a new round of leaders in the growing movement to create communities where everyone — including people who migrate — can belong and prosper,” said Rachel Perić, executive director of Welcoming America. “Today, we recognize the cities of Portland, Maine and Nashua, New Hampshire as newly Certified Welcoming, as well as redesignate the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Louisville Metro Government; and Salt Lake County as Certified Welcoming. These local governments are leading the way, and showing how cities and towns can partner with Welcoming America to put their welcoming values into action.”
Nashua, New Hampshire and Portland, Maine are the first two cities in the New England region to become Certified Welcoming.
Said Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess: “The City of Nashua, New Hampshire, is so pleased to officially receive this designation. In practice, we have always strived to be a welcoming city to all; having this recognition helps us reinforce the assertion that we are passionately dedicated to ensuring that everyone feels safe and supported here in Nashua. Our cultural diversity is what makes our city the vibrant, exciting place it is, and we are happy to share this wonderful certification news with our community.”
For cities or counties to become Certified Welcoming, they first undergo a rigorous audit that evaluates existing policies and programs for how well they meet the Welcoming Standard, a set of framework areas that define what welcoming communities should be, particularly in how effectively they include immigrants. Based on the audit, the city or county may receive an action plan to resolve any gaps and work toward full compliance of the Welcoming Standard to achieve the designation. For example, the City of Nashua has continually invested in language access services to ensure that all of its community members can receive government services and information.
There are now 18 Certified Welcoming cities and counties across the United States, with nine in progress to achieve the designation. By 2026, Welcoming America aims to see 50 communities become Certified Welcoming places.
An official roll-out event is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 12, from noon-2 pm. Adult Learning Center at 4 Lake Street has graciously agreed to host the City of Nashua for this celebration. There will refreshments and the Mayor will speak on the Welcoming City designation. More information will be announced at a later date.
Certified Welcoming is a formal designation for cities and counties that have created policies and programs reflecting their values and commitment to immigrant inclusion and met the high bar set by the Welcoming Standard. This innovative program assesses city and county governments on their efforts to include and welcome immigrants in all areas of civic, social, and economic life in their communities. Learn more at certifiedwelcoming.org
Welcoming America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports communities building a welcoming society where every person, including immigrants, can fully contribute and shape our shared prosperity. Through the Welcoming Network of 300+ local governments and nonprofits, we work to help communities develop the roadmap they need to create welcoming policies and share new approaches to inclusion that create an environment where everyone can truly thrive. Learn more at welcomingamerica.org
Article written by Ellen Grimm and published by Seacoastonline, a member of the Granite State News Collaborative.
This story is part of an occasional Granite State News Collaborative series focusing on immigration issues and the experiences of immigrants settling in New Hampshire, including what it’s like seeking asylum here and finding work as an immigrant — the challenges involved, as well as efforts underway to help remove barriers and create more opportunities for advancement.
In a tight labor market, employers have been proposing some novel ways to fill positions. According to Andrew Cullen, career service manager at the International Institute of New England in Manchester, one manufacturing company is considering providing a van on a temporary basis for a group of potential employees that need transportation in order to work.
“We’ve had a lot of employers reaching out to us, looking for help filling labor shortages,” Cullen said.
