EB5 Investors Magazine English Edition Volume 6, Issue 2 | Page 76

TOP ECONOMISTS MICHAEL KESTER IMPACT DATASOURCE | PARTNER & LEAD EB-5 ECONOMIST M i c h a e l Ke s te r i s p a r t n e r and lead EB-5 economist with Impact DataSource. Established in 1993, Impact DataSource is a Texas-based consulting firm specializing in economic and fiscal impact research services. The firm began offering specialized EB-5 services in 2010. Kester leads the firm’s specialized EB-5 economics team, which offers consulting, analyses and deliverables that reflect the needs of EB-5 clients and ever-changing requirements of USCIS. The EB-5 team has completed more than 450 comprehensive EB-5 economic studies, assisted clients in obtaining more than a thousand TE A let ters and successfully helped clients on many complex EB-5 cases. leverage our background to help that client on our first successful EB-5 project. Impact DataSource’s EB-5 team now consists of three dedicated and specialized EB-5 economists assisting a variety of clients in completing their EB-5 documentation and meeting their goal of creating U.S. jobs and growing the nation’s economy. WHAT NEW TYPES OF PROJECTS AND TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY? While the majority of projects that we see are still hotels, multi-family, mixed-use and similar real estate projects, over the past year or so we have seen a small but noticeable increase in other project types such as manufacturing, solar and infrastructure-based projects WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN THE EB-5 INDUSTRY? Leveraging its more than 20 years of experience, Impact DataSource entered the world of EB-5 service providers in 2010, focusing on economic analysis, when an existing client asked us to help on an EB-5 project. We were able to IMMIGRATION & BUSINESS LAW EXPERTISE YOU CAN RELY ON Chhabria Law is a leading Chicago area law firm, with international offices in Dubai, UAE and Mumbai, India. Having participated in 50+ live seminars in 18 cities in India, 6 cities in Kenya and East Africa, and throughout the Middle East in the UAE and Oman, our firm has keen insight into investor-centered issues. Having answered almost every conceivable question posed by hundreds of potential investors abroad, our firm troubleshoots matters from in-country passport issuance to source of funds strategy and planning in both the short and long-term. With a history of representing developers as well, our offices seamlessly bridge the styles, personalities, methods, and assumptions of developers, investors, and third party professionals in the EB-5 context. www.chhabrialawllc.com 76 EB5 INVESTORS M AGAZINE VISHAL K. CHHABRIA IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY 773-431-0452 | [email protected]