« The Riot Act | Main | Getting the Most Out of Your Tools »
July 14, 2008
Immigration: Both Sides Have to Work At It
Hispanic immigrant.
That phrase alone makes some contractors' blood boil.
But whether you like it or hate, it immigration is here. There's no wall big enough -- literal or metaphorical -- that, in my view, will stop it. And, immigration didn't start yesterday (legal or illegal, I'm not making a distinction). Which leaves us with this fact: As more and more children of immigrants -- now 1st generation Americans -- inexorably enter the trades as labor and contractors, "they" become "we."
Makita -- an immigrant itself, one might say, from Japan with US headquarters in Southern, sunny CA -- has positioned its marketing to Hispanic contractors for 5 years. MakitaUSA www.MakitaTools.com states that their marketing paid off. Sponsorship of Major League Soccer www.mlsnet.com and its sub-charity www.NothingButNets.Net results in double-digit sales increases.
Unless you're a Mohawk or Navaho, I don't think you can argue that everyone you see are immigrants, if you reach back far enough. Blood boiling yet?
Now, solving the larger issue of national immigration -- and there are massive issues not to be ignored -- is not something I can do from my kitchen table where I'm writing. But I do think there is a lesson in Makita's approach. One I think might work on site combined with a lesson from a friend of mine.
1 -- The reality is that Hispanics are here and in the trades en masse and can add value to companies. It paid off and I give them credit.
2 -- My friend won't hack through Spanglish with subs. Unless there's an English-speaker ON SITE ALL DAY, he doesn't use the sub.
My point: assimilation works best for both worlds -- but only works at all if both worlds work at it. That's nothing new.
But I'm writing this from my kitchen table. Concepts are cute, but your boots are in the mud on your jobsites. What's your take?
Posted by Mark Clement at July 14, 2008 4:07 PM
