Little Saigon Group Seeks to Help Immigrants Over Business Hurdles

When Gary Tang opened a small printing shop in Westminster in 1986, getting a building permit was nearly as difficult and confusing as becoming a citizen.

“It was so hard,” said Tang, of Anaheim. “I ran into problems, and no one helped me out or explained the laws to me.”

Now Tang is among a small group of Vietnamese American business leaders trying to help immigrants navigate the complexities of getting needed city permits, setting up bank accounts, marketing products and even developing basic business plans to help them survive in bustling Little Saigon.

Even as Little Saigon grows as an ethnic shopping district, the washout rate of merchants remains high. Tang and others say failures are often a result of bad -- or even no -- advice to aspiring business owners.

“I want to help because I understand their problems, and there is no other organization like it,” Tang said of the newly formed Little Saigon Chamber of Commerce. “Business owners don’t have anywhere else to turn to. They have to take care of it themselves.”

The chamber is not the first try at meeting the needs of the Vietnamese American business enclave. In the mid-1980s, the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce opened and tried to develop business ties between the emerging shopping district and Vietnam.

But the group suffered from financial and political problems. It became controversial after its president, Co Pham, escorted communist Vietnamese officials around the staunchly anti-communist community. However, Pham said, the organization was successful in lobbying Vietnamese government officials to lower tariffs and keep prices low.

“We’ve traveled to Vietnam and brought [Vietnamese] delegations to Orange County so they can see the business climate,” said Mike Nally, a spokesman for the older organization. “We’ve been taking flak for it, but it’s been a tangible success. Lower prices have stimulated the local community. So it wasn’t just a grand vision.”

The emergence of the Little Saigon chamber underscores the need for more basic help, however.

Since the late 1970s, Little Saigon has expanded from three shops along Bolsa Avenue in Westminster established by immigrants who had fled Vietnam. Now the area is a tourist destination, with restaurants and apparel and service shops. It has expanded into Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Fountain Valley and has become the largest Vietnamese cultural and business hub outside of Vietnam.

Still, many business owners don’t have the experience of opening a shop, and they borrow money from relatives or their credit cards to start their business, according to the latest survey by the California Partnership for Economic Achievement, a partnership between Merrill Lynch, the Greenlining Institute and California community-based organizations, which surveyed Vietnamese American businesses in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The study found that only 8% of the businesses participate in the ethnic chamber of commerce and even fewer attend business mentoring programs and networking events.

“You have to offer them an incentive to join,” said Tang, the owner of Westminster Press in Santa Ana.

David Nguyen, who will soon open Ace Tutoring Center in Westminster, said he will turn to the newly formed chamber to help him determine how to advertise his business and search for grants to purchase equipment.

“When you start a new business, you could use a lot of help,” said Nguyen, 32, of Westminster.

Tang said business owners often struggle with building, health, fire and air quality control officials. Some merchants say they don’t understand the laws and regulations. Others said they have been unfairly fined.

“We will correct what is wrong,” Tang said. “But if we’re right, we need someone to fight for us.”