A recent report from the Migration Policy Institute released by the Napa Valley Community Foundation found that nearly a third of Napa County’s workforce is foreign-born and contribute as much as $1.5 million to the county’s economy each year.

The report found the county is home to 29,000 immigrants, about 21% of the county’s population. Like other Napa County residents, they are weathering recent storms of inflation, rising housing costs and the downturn in California’s wine industry. The foundation’s report updated a 2012 report on the county’s immigrant population from 2006 to 2010.

Terence Mulligan, Napa County Foundation’s CEO, said the studies sought to understand the effects of the county’s shifting demographics and economics over time. “We tried to pick up the hot potato of immigration with the oven mitts of objective third-party data. The bottom line is that immigrants are an important part of our economy and our community because they’re overrepresented in the workforce, they drive a lot of positive things for our community, they pay taxes and consume government services at a rate commensurate with their population and so forth.”

You can read more about the Migration Policy Institute/Napa County Community Foundation study at “New report details what immigrant workers mean to Napa County’s economy,” in the May 16 edition of The Press Democrat.