Mosaic and Cuong Dang

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV.com) -

The St. Louis region was the fastest growing region for foreign born people in 2015.

That’s according to folks with the St. Louis Mosaic Project, an initiative aimed at increasing the number of immigrants in the St. Louis metro area.

It was formed in 2013 after some ground breaking research in 2012 about the importance of having immigrants in the community.

“The research showed that because we have less than five percent foreign born, we were missing economic opportunity and we’re missing population growth,” said Executive Director Betsy Cohen.

Cohen said they came up with a simple goal.

“The goal in 2013 was that by 2020, the St. Louis region would be the fastest growing for foreign born of the top 20 major metropolitan areas. We actually achieved that in 2015.”

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