With numerous surveys affirming the importance of immigrants' contributions to the New York City economy, NYC Comptroller John Liu and New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli took a special tour of Flushing's Asian-run businesses yesterday to witness the phenomenon firsthand.

During their visit to Chinese- and Korean-dominated Flushing, Liu and DiNapoli visited S & L Aerospace Metals, where over 80 percent of the workers are immigrants. DiNapoli stressed the importance of immigrants to the City's economy, saying that Flushing's fast economic growth throughout the recession illustrates the invaluable role of immigrants.

Accompanied by City Councilmember Peter Koo and several representatives of Asian businesses, Liu and DiNapoli toured S & L Aerospace, whose main product is helicopter components; they were welcomed warmly by Jerry Wang, the company's CEO, and by vice president Ted Varvatsas and production vice president Carlos Quintana. The visitors, viewing the factory's production process and its final products, expressed great interest in the factory's machinery and technology and asked numerous questions about the products' functions and uses.

When the company was founded in Brooklyn in 1947, it primarily manufactured bicycle parts, said Jerry Wang; in 1960 it moved to Flushing and changed to producing helicopter components. In 2001 the company was almost forced to close because of financial troubles, but when Wang took the helm he changed the company's managerial strategy and financial system, increased its small staff to 200 workers, and moved it to its current address in College Point, Queens. Currently the company is cooperating with the U.S. government and with Boeing, and 80 percent of their orders are for helicopter parts.

Eighty-five percent of the company's employees are immigrants, with 20 percent Chinese; most are high-technology specialists. Jerry Wang attributes the company's success in great part to the efforts of its employees. "The diligence and dependability of immigrants has been a major engine of development for our company," Wang says.

DiNapoli, a third-generation immigrant, used the word "astounding" to describe the caliber of the factory's employees and products. He stressed the importance of immigrants' contributions to the growth of New York's economy, saying that according to national census statistics New York City's immigrant workforce increased by 68 percent between 2001 and 2008, and immigrants' contribution to the city's GDP increased by 61 percent. In 2008 alone immigrants' contribution to New York City's GDP was $215 billion, DiNapoli said.

DiNapoli added that Flushing and College Point are New York's two neighborhoods with the densest immigrant populations, mostly Chinese, and the area's rapid economic growth in recent years has been a major stimulus for the City's economy.

John Liu said that the factory's good working conditions will help many immigrants achieve the American dream, and that he hopes that in these difficult economic times the contributions of immigrants to the American economy will receive due recognition.