Asia and The Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce

Understanding the Diverse Asian American Peoples, Cultures, & Entrepreneurship A Community and Economic Development Perspective

Presented by: My Lan Tran, Executive Director

VACC Organization ‘s Key Principles

Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce is committed to the promotion of equal opportunity and appreciation of diversity

through initiatives and activities that promote sensitivity and accommodations for

all people while focusing on the Virginia’s Asian Pacific American population.

Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce - Who are we?

• VACC is Virginia’s Asian Pacific American leader in business advocacy organization working on behalf of more than 44,700 Asian American companies in Virginia (and Maryland, DC Metro area, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and the Carolinas) which employ more than 77.000 employees and creating 8 billion dollars in revenue.

• Statewide satellite offices are in Chantilly, McLean, Central Virginia, Charlottesville, Newport News, and Roanoke (under development)

Mission• To foster, increase, and maximize the economic potential of Virginia’s

Asian Pacific American businesses by supporting their domestic and international business development efforts.

How Do We Do This

• Connects Asian American Pacific entrepreneurs, professionals, and communities with each other.

• Help develop businesses and create jobs for Virginia through education, networking, business development opportunities, and economic policy advocacy.

• Focus on procurement via seminars, conferences, forums, summits, procurement matchmaking events, trade missions.

• Produced and co produced more than 400 events so far.

Asian Population: Growth and Diversity

1. Fastest growing ethnic group in the United States – VA : 8th in fastest growth in the nation

2. One of the most diverse populations

3. Higher educational and socioeconomic backgrounds

4. Diverse cultural linguistic characteristics

5. Unique histories conditions of their respective countries of origin

Distinct Cultural/Linguistic Characteristics

• Deeper understanding implicate more effective services

• Diverse religions, customs, and traditions

• Collective beliefs forming traditional collective values of diverse Asian cultures.

Cultural Values: Fundamental guidelines for living

• Predominant Asian values: Family, harmony, education, and selected virtues

• Family: Basic unit of society and central focus of the individual’s life

• Harmony: Keynote of existence

• Education: Successful academic achievement

• Virtues: Patience, perseverance, self-sacrifice, maintenance of inner strength, self-restraint, modesty, and humility

Child Rearing Beliefs & Practices

• Well-defined, highly interdependent roles within cohesive patriarchal structure

• Parental roles and/or responsibilities

• Personal sacrifice, accountability, and power

• Unquestioning obedience and loyalty from the child

Health Beliefs/Practices

• Traditional health cares and orientations

• Balance between the cosmic forces of yin and yang• Importance of internal body organs

• Less invasive diagnostic and treatment procedures

• Use of herbal medication versus medications

• “Hot–cold” therapy & “Wind illnesses”

Language and Communication Styles

• Considerable diversity languages

• Communication patterns serve to reinforce traditional cultural values and beliefs

• Primary value of preserving harmony and face in human relationships and promoting harmonious social interaction

• Spiritual belief about most sacred parts of the body

Insights versus Stereotypes

• Take into accounts: Cultural orientations, language characteristics, life experiences, and unique personal circumstances

• Concept of “ saving face”

• Importance of “conflict avoidance”

• Importance of loyalty and • sense of belonging

•440,000 Virginia residents - 5.5 percent of the total population. 69 percent increase since 2000.

•9 out of 10 Asians lived in Virginia's three major metropolitan areas: Northern Virginia (71 percent), Hampton Roads (13 percent) and Richmond (9 percent).

•More than two‐thirds of Virginia's Asians were U.S. citizens: 28 percent were native citizens.

•40 percent were born outside of the U.S. and naturalized

•Top five birth countries of Virginia's foreign‐born Asians were India, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, and China.

2010 Census Data on Virginia's Asian Population

• The number of Asian-owned firms grew 24% from 1997 to 2002.

- The number of all U.S. firms grew 10%.

• The receipts for Asian-owned firms grew 13%. • - The receipts of all U.S. firms grew 22%.

A Look at the 2007 Statisticsfor Asian-Owned Businesses

for the United States & the State of Virginia

Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce

Thank You

My Lan Tran, Executive Director

Email: aabac@aabac.org

Visit us at www.aabac.org

Tel: 804-649-0204

HQ: Ashland, Virginia. 6 Satellite Offices in Richmond, McLean, Chantilly, Charlottesville,

Virginia Beach, Newport News.