A new report entitled Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Montana focuses on data relating to refugees in the Missoula area, which has experienced the greatest number of new arrivals in recent decades. The gist of the report is that newcomers to the US are having an outsize beneficial economic impact. A stakeholder panel convened by the International Rescue Committee, or IRC, discussed the findings from a variety of civic, business, and individual perspectives.

Panel members, in the order in which they speak, were:

Jen Barile, resettlement director for Missoula of the IRC
Erica Bouris, technical advisor on economic empowerment with the IRC
John Engen, Mayour of Missoula
Wilmot Collins, Mayor of Helena and a refugee from Liberia
Bob-Be Sparks, executive director of housekeeping at the Holiday Inn Missoula
Kathy O’Masters, vice president of the Missoula Federal Credit Union
Joel Kambale, refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This event was recorded on July 11, 2018. A copy of the report is available as a PDF.