COLUMBUS
BUSINESS FIRST
by Jeff Bell Business First
Saturday, May 17, 2008
advertisements
Somali immigrant Mahdi Taakilo is proud of what his countrymen have accomplished since arriving in Central Ohio over the past decade.
Despite facing language barriers and a cultural chasm, they have found jobs, started hundreds of businesses and have given their children a chance at a future they never would have seen in their war-torn east African nation, he said.
"They come here with nothing," Taakilo said. "They don't even have $1 when they come to this country."
Now Taakilo, the president and owner of the Somali Link newspaper in Columbus, is hopeful a bill introduced in the Ohio Senate will help improve communications between state government and others from countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: Business First, May 17, 2008