What’s at stake?
A new study of Fresno County’s Southeast Asian businesses will be the first of its kind in both the county and the state. Officials hope it will assess needs and unlock resources for the businesses owned by members of Fresno’s large Southeast Asian population.
As the CEO of a federally-certified mission lender in the Central Valley, Access Plus Capital CEO Tate Hill spends his days working to connect entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds to loans and other assistance programs.
But until 2023, federal guidelines left Asian communities off the list that lenders like Hill’s organization were allowed to target with much-needed support in Fresno County.
That meant groups like Fresno County’s Southeast Asian community — which is more than 80,000 individuals strong — were rendered invisible in local business data, no matter how many beloved Southeast Asian-owned restaurants, markets and other businesses set up shop across the county.
“What are the lending gaps? What are the business service needs?” Hill said in an interview Friday. “We can’t just say, well, this is what it is in the African American community, so I’m going to assume that’s what it is also in the Southeast Asian (community) — no.”
Thanks to recent federal guideline changes and a new local initiative, local lenders and business advocates hope to soon have better answers to those questions for the Southeast Asian business community.
Alongside several partners, Access Plus Capital is launching the first-ever study of Southeast Asian businesses in Fresno County.
It will compile data on employment, payroll, firm count and sector distribution for the county’s Southeast Asian businesses. It will also assess specific capital and technical assistance needs among those business owners.
The resulting dataset will be the first of its kind for not only the county but also the state, officials say, and one of just a handful of similar studies of Southeast Asian business owners across the country.
Hill joined local Southeast Asian community organizations, business owners and Councilmember Brandon Vang on Friday morning outside of Laotian American restaurant La Kitchen in southeast Fresno to share plans for the study.
“It’s long overdue in the county of Fresno, long overdue probably in the state of California, long overdue in this country,” said Pao Yang, president of the Fresno Center, “to gather data that is so vital to the success of our economy.
“I didn’t say ‘Southeast Asian economy,’” Yang added, “but our economy as a whole.”
The goal, once that data is finally captured, is to use it to finally target Southeast Asian business owners with the business support services they need.
Access Plus Capital will partner with Economic Impact Catalyst to collect this data through an online survey.
The survey will launch next month in multiple languages, said Access Plus Capital’s chief of staff, Ushan Samarakone. They’ll collect responses through June.
Hill stressed during the news conference that business owners shouldn’t be concerned about sharing their information and that the survey collection will be “secure.”
“The information will be collected for the purpose of the study. This information won’t be shared directly with any kind of government agency or anything,” he said. “We want the participants to know that there will be a secure process for them to participate in this study.”
Samarakone told Fresnoland they expect to share interim results around April and final results sometime after June.
Business owners at the news conference welcomed the news Friday and urged their peers to participate.
“Being counted means being seen,” said Anusone Keochai, treasurer of the Laotian American Community of Fresno and co-owner of Na Nah Thong restaurant. “It means our stories, our struggles and our successes are finally reflected in the data that drives decision-making.”
