Ritu Jha-
Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar was in the San Francisco Bay Area for a fundraising event on June 3 in Sunnyvale, Calif. He shared his vision, challenges, Green Card backlogs and what it means to give back, at a small gathering hosted by community leader Khanderao Kand.
Congressman Thanedar, a serial entrepreneur and an author, might not be from Silicon Valley but his thoughts on not giving up when his thriving company failed to sustain, and how he shared revenues when he made profits, said: “I felt that I need to give back to the country that has given me so much. I sold my company, gave a chunk of money to my employees and then got into public service.”
When asked about his source of strength to face difficulties, the Congressman said that his mother taught him never to give up. He said she was always positive even though she came from poverty.
“The bigger the failure, the harder I worked, and the next success was even higher. I learned this from my mother,” said Congressman Thanedar.
The conversation then turned to a long-standing, contentious issue – Green Cards and visas for Indian immigrants. One of the attendees said that during COVID, for two years, he didn’t get a visa appointment date, and getting an H1 visa is one thing, but all H1 visas do not get converted into green cards. “How do we address this?”
Thanedar stressed building bridges across the aisle. “Not only in the house but building bridges with the senators too. A lot depends on education, people aren’t aware of the impact of this, what does it do for American economy and jobs. A lot of times I tell my story because my story is understandable, relatable. Republicans understand my story, they understand the story of coming out from nothing, entrepreneurship, and then creating wealth. I often talk about that but it’s a matter of education, it’s a matter of convincing and making a good case that why helping immigrants is good for America. It’s not just good for the immigrants or the families coming, but is good for jobs, and economy. And we will not be competitive in the world in this global economy if we don’t have skilled workforce. And so that is what I have been working on,” said Thanedar.
Born in southern India, and after completing his undergraduate and Masters Degrees in Chemistry, Congressman Thanedar came to America in order to complete his PhD in chemistry at the University of Akron. While in school, Congressman Thanedar worked as a janitor to make ends meet and at times slept in his car asked people waiting for a green card to keep the fight on.
After completing his education, Congressman Thanedar worked as a researcher and eventually became CEO of Avomeen Analytical Services and was honored with the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year thrice — in 1997, 2007, and 2016.
In 2016, when Congressman Thanedar sold his business, Avomeen Analytical Services he shared $1.5 million from the sale with his 50 employees with amounts based on their tenure — a company secretary who was the longest-serving employee received the largest bonus.
After Congressman Thanedar retired as a business leader and scientist, he took up public service. In 2018, he ran for Governor of Michigan. While not victorious, Congressman Thanedar advocated for working families by bringing forward critical issues like universal health care, raising the minimum wage, and improving Michigan’s crumbling infrastructure. In 2020, he ran successfully for the Michigan Legislature. There he served on the powerful appropriations committee and helped bring millions of dollars back to his Detroit-based district.
Thanedar proved his commitment to fighting for more education and job training resources for southeast Michigan, a higher minimum wage, universal health care, and programs to jumpstart entrepreneurship in historically disenfranchised communities.
Kand said, “When I first time met Congressman Thanedar at his office in January, I was immediately struck by his genuine curiosity about me and my work, as he attentively asked insightful questions. His unassuming nature, open-mindedness, and humble demeanor left a lasting impression on me. Later, I had the opportunity to hear his inspiring journey firsthand at the FIIDS event on Capitol Hill, where he shared his remarkable story of triumphing over poverty to become a successful entrepreneur and selflessly giving back to others through public service. His personal experience as an immigrant has deeply influenced his vision for transforming the immigration system, including reforms related to H1B visas and country-specific limits on green cards.”
On being asked to speak on the changes in the education system back in India and the means to create an academic partnership between US and India, Thanedar said: “We do have a lot of partnerships now between the US and Indian universities. And through that, the students could get joint degrees. A lot of work has been correctly done to implement this. But in the US, the thing that I’m very passionate about, I served on the Education Appropriations Committee in the Michigan House, and I helped bring in $1.2 billion to my district.”
“We are rebuilding five different schools. What happens here is that in the low-income areas, the quality of the schools is notoriously bad, whereas richer areas have much better schools. And the part here is that every child, no matter what zip code he or she lives in, must get a good education because that’s the foundation for their success. And knowing that, one of the things that I focused on was rebuilding schools, providing the facilities, the resources that they need to provide children to get the best education they can. The students will eventually transform the whole system. That’s the focus I’m working with some likeminded Congressmen and Congresswomen, and some US senators,” Thanedar added.
When a member of the audience thanked the Congressman on behalf of the large Telugu community in Michigan, Thanedar expressed his gratitude: “Some of my biggest supporters in Michigan are from the Telugu community. So I would love to come back here and keep this dialogue going. I want you to know that you have a friend in the US Congress.”
