A warm welcome for the
new kids on the block

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

For Fatima Coulibaly, the American Dream is not a cliché. For the past five years, it’s been her reality — an often cold, hard reality.
That is, Coulibaly, her husband and her young son came to the United States in early 2003 with little more than the clothes on their backs and the grandiose expectations of everyone they left back home in their native Senegal.
"The first time (in the United States) is not easy," said Coulibaly, who now lives in Northeast Philadelphia. "You don’t have a house, (but) you have relatives back in your country, and you have to send money back to them. They think you have a lot of money."
As a result, one of her first orders of business was to find a job. Were it not for a local non-profit immigrant advocacy organization and a growing, globally conscious local manufacturing firm, Coulibaly might still be looking for work.
Within a few months of her arrival in the city, the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians was able to place her at Microcision LLC, a Tacony-based manufacturer of custom medical implants, components and assemblies, as well as semiconductor products.
In July, Coulibaly expects to celebrate her fifth anniversary as a full-time employee at Microcision. She is one of more than 2,000 immigrants from 64 countries that the Welcoming Center, at 16th Street and JFK Boulevard, has helped find jobs at more than 100 area companies since 2003.
According to Yana Chernov, a native of Ukraine who is senior employment specialist for the Welcoming Center, her organization helps new immigrants adapt to their new country, a new culture and new expectations by offering a multitude of programs rarely found at a conventional employment agency.
The Welcoming Center offers legal clinics where immigrants can get professional, and otherwise costly, legal advice. It conducts outreach efforts into local schools to help young foreigners get more involved in, and thrive within, an educational system that can be drastically different than those that they knew in their native lands.
Perhaps the most important initiative at the Welcoming Center is the most basic — English classes — because, by all accounts, good communication is a major key to long-term professional and financial success.
These Welcoming Center programs and others are funded by federal and state grants, as well as contributions from charitable foundations and other private sources.
"We try to provide full services, not just ‘get the job and start to get the money,’" Chernov said.
For Coulibaly, one primary hurdle was language. In Senegal, she spoke French. After immigrating to America, a friend introduced her to Chernov, who directed her toward English as a Second Language classes.
It’s a good thing she followed Chernov’s advice because spoken English is a requirement of employment at Microcision because of the highly technical and unique nature of the work.
Company president and CEO Bob Kramer is a firm believer in an international work force and has dozens of immigrants among his 75-member staff. Though they speak 22 different languages from every continent on the globe, workers must be able to communicate efficiently on the job.
Yet, Kramer finds that ambitious foreign workers readily comply with that requirement while enthusiastically learning the complex standards and procedures of his complex industry.
At any given moment, Microcision is working on 30 to 40 different contracts for a variety of companies ranging from Fortune 500 entities like Johnson & Johnson to venture capital projects.
Using computerized lathes and tools, Microcision produces the tiny screws and pins used to repair broken bones, neurological implants, pacing devices and surgical instruments.
Employees hired through the Welcoming Center operate the company’s high-tech machines, inspect individual pieces by microscope, work in research and development, and staff the corporate office.
"It’s actually pretty incredible when you see the diversity here," Kramer said. "It’s incredible when you think about the type of work you have to do here and the learning curve. You have to set up every detail of every part. Think of the work ethic (needed) to do that. You have to come and dedicate yourself over a long period of time.
"One thing you see from all of the Visitor Center people who come here is they come to learn, to struggle, to survive, to learn a skill and to be able to support a family over a long period of time."
Things are working out pretty much according to that plan for Coulibaly. She and her husband have added two more sons to their family, have moved to a new home in the Northeast and continue to help out their relatives in Senegal.
"We’re making progress," Coulibaly said. "My husband, he’s a hard worker, too." ••
Visit www.welcomingcenter.org or call 215-557-2626 for more information about the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians. Visit www.microcision.com for information about Microcision LLC.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com