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SALT LAKE CITY — Even as the immigration debate across the country rages, the age-old story of the immigrant improving his or her lot through gumption, an entrepreneurial spirit and hard work lives on.

The annual business pitch competition held by the International Rescue Committee of Salt Lake City drew the interest of 27 participants this year and culminated this week with the naming of the Top 3 finishers.

“Refugees are incredibly entrepreneurial. Studies show that they’re more likely to own a small business than the average American,” said Danny Beus, who heads the international refugee group’s Salt Lake City office. Small businesses are “the backbone of our economy,” he went on, and the group’s annual New American Dream Lab initiative is meant to help give members of Utah’s refugee and immigrant community a jump-start with their business aspirations.

The three finalists in the initiative took part in a final pitch event on Tuesday in Salt Lake City, outlining their business ideas to a panel of business experts that selected the first-, second- and third-place finishers. Taking the top slot was Exancia Midy, originally from Haiti, who operates a Haitian food truck, Jemlys Haitian Food. She dreams of opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant, possibly in Provo.

“It’s a dream come true,” Midy said after the judges announced their decision. She gets $4,000 to help launch her business and another $500 as the audience favorite.

Exancia Midy took the top spot at the final pitch event of the International Rescue Committee’s New American Dream Lab initiative on Tuesday, July 22, at Publik Coffee in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)

Next was Selam Dickerson, originally from Ethiopia, who is pursing creation of a “mobile farmers market,” called Rollin’ Harvest. She won $2,000 to help fund her business plan — to gather produce grown by small-scale urban farmers and bring it to area farmers markets for sale to the public. Dmytro Mateiko, originally from Ukraine, took third place and $1,000 to help him with his plans, a tourism business, Matei Travel.

“To feel this much support around our business means a lot,” said Dickerson.

The initiative is one prong of broader efforts of the International Rescue Committee in Utah to promote the well-being of the refugee community and help them develop business skills. The nonprofit group, focused on helping refugees transition to life in Utah, offers continuing support to help refugees learn business skills, and as part of the Dream Lab program, participants learned how to promote and pitch their business ideas to would-be investors.

“Many of the folks who applied are either in ideation phase, have an established business or are going to expand,” said Carolina Terrazas, economic empowerment program manager for the International Rescue Committee in Salt Lake City. The organization provides counseling, training and workshops to help participants develop and fine-tune their business ideas.

Midy, who first launched her food truck six years ago, has a background in health care, but food is her passion, which has fueled her business career. “I like nursing, but I love cooking. My heart is in the kitchen,” she said.

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Dickerson said her passion lies with local food production. There are many small-scale produce growers in the Salt Lake Valley, but they don’t have the know-how or inclination to get their goods to market, where her proposal comes in. She would work with the growers to bring their goods to area farmer markets, essentially selling the produce on consignment for them so they can focus on their growing operations. “Logistics, language and technology are the main barriers I see,” she said.

Mateiko, who came to Utah early last year from Ukraine with his wife and their young kids, worked in tourism in his native country, and he and his wife launched a tourism business here, continuing the trajectory. He’s now seeking funding to expand the business in part to buy a van to transport customers.

Terrazas stressed the positive attributes of the three entrepreneurs, even as the crackdown on immigrants under President Donald Trump unfolds. In addition to his aggressive efforts against criminal immigrants here illegally, the Trump administration has largely halted the entry of new refugees into the country. “Each of these three finalists brings something very unique to Utah, strengthens the economy, brings culture to our state,” she said.