**Immigrants Transform a City Near Springfield, Ohio**

Dayton, Ohio, has been losing population for decades, but in 2011, the city launched an effort to become more welcoming to immigrants. The hope was that these newcomers would revitalize the city and bring much-needed economic growth.

The city's efforts have paid off. FC Industries, a local manufacturing business, has relied heavily on immigrant workers to help fuel its growth. Beth Casella, the company's HR manager, says, "We've always prided ourselves on being very diverse. Three of my grandparents were immigrants." Casella's company is not alone. Nationwide, immigrants are a vital force in powering the American job machine and keeping the U.S. economy humming.

Dayton has become known as an "immigrant friendly city" and has worked to make services more accessible to newcomers and integrate them into the local community. "Our goal is to make Dayton a welcoming place for everybody," says City Commissioner Matt Joseph, who helped spearhead the "Welcome Dayton" initiative. Joseph says there was some pushback, but not much. Immigrants have brought newfound variety to Dayton's retail scene, serving newcomers and longtime residents alike.

The arrival of new immigrants has given a welcome boost to aging neighborhoods. Jennifer Evans and her husband, Matt Tepper, are active in the Old North Dayton Neighborhood Association. Tepper says, "Families were buying these abandoned houses and fixing them up immediately, occupying them. So Old North Dayton doesn’t have the — quote — abandonment problem that a lot of urban areas had." The neighborhood has also seen the arrival of a new mosque, a Turkish social club, and a growing African market.

City Commissioner Joseph acknowledges that there are costs associated with providing services to new arrivals, but he believes that Dayton has prospered by reaching out to immigrants rather than turning them away. "This is the best the city has done in 50 years — since before I was born," Joseph says. "And welcoming immigrants, welcoming everyone, has played a role in that."