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The Small Business Administration supports entrepreneurs of all backgrounds, but this month we’re putting even more emphasis on AANHPI entrepreneurs. This represents Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. To mark AAPI Heritage Month, SBA held a roundtable event at Montown Market in Milwaukee’s Longview neighborhood.
84 offth The Hmong town of Hampton Street and Hampton Street has a huge grocery store, dry goods market and food court. Customers buy large containers with chili flakes, green beans, bottles of peanut oil, and boxes of rice noodles.
On the way home, near a small cafe, SBA administrators meet Asian-American small business owners from Wisconsin. the goal? To check their status over the last few years and inform them about their resources.
“The AAPI community was experiencing what you might call a double whammy, a double pandemic,” said Jennifer Kim, SBA Field Operations Associate Administrator. “Not only are we facing the same kinds of economic hardships and hardships that everyone else has faced, but you know, with the added element of anti-Asian hatred, which has become so pervasive that it is now It’s still going on, and it’s going to be a problem.”
Kim said social conditions affect people and their businesses in many ways.
“Small businesses are often the target of anti-Asian hatred because they are more visible in the community,” she says. “It’s somewhat easy to do graffiti in restaurants and such. And it continues to be a problem for communities everywhere. I’d say there’s a lot more awareness of that now. And it really helps.”
Early in the pandemic, a Chinese-Japanese restaurant in Milwaukee temporarily closed after an employee was subjected to racist attacks. 2021 saw another racist anti-Asian incident in Shorewood. The national organization Stop Anti-Asian Hate has documented thousands of such anti-Asian incidents across the country since its launch in 2020.
That includes the targeted shooting in Atlanta in 2021.
But it’s not a big focus for everyone, including Mai Nia Chan. “I’ve never had a lot of trouble just being Asian,” she says.
Chan, who owns a Vietnamese restaurant, Zankia, in downtown Milwaukee, was more concerned about the financial hurdles.
“I think some of the challenges are staffing,” she says. “You know, we’re a very small business compared to the big restaurants out there, and we can’t meet their salary levels.”
Xankia was closed for a year during the pandemic and then recently closed for two months for renovations.
Despite the difficulty in finding employees due to the pandemic subsidy, Chan said the employees are doing well, with expanded hours and menu options, and an attached bar. To tell.
SBA Great Lakes Regional Administrator Geri Agripei says financial assistance is very important. She said the agency provided $787 million in loans to AAPI small business owners in Wisconsin in 2022. These loans have longer repayment terms than traditional loans.
IT and manufacturing companies, as well as government contracts, are being targeted. “So Asian bakeries that bake bread have the opportunity to sign contracts with the federal government, its cafeterias and branches,” Agripay said.
She points out that Asian Americans are actually the most economically fragmented group in America. “Therefore, becoming a small business owner is the best way to build wealth in America next to owning a home. SBA and our resources her partners alike do it for free. can do.”
The entrepreneurs who flock to Hmong Town Market run businesses ranging from adult day care centers to pottery workshops to golf centers. Representatives from the Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce were also present.
Coua Xiong is an interior designer at Fox Valley. She started her own business after working her ten years in corporate finance. Resources are her biggest challenge. “And when I mean resources, yes, of course it’s the economic one,” Sion said. “But it’s also kind of support in knowing who to turn to when you have business questions like setting up taxes or forming an LLC. Who should I talk to about getting it?”
What are her big takeaways from the Roundtable? If you look for the right place, there are people who can help you. SBA’s Kim points to services such as free counseling, technical assistance and free one-on-one mentoring at small business development centers statewide.
Kim says the one-stop shop is the website.
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