Asian-owned firms growing fast in Utah

As president of the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce, Eunice Jones isn't surprised to hear the number of Asian-owned businesses in the state is growing fast.

The number of Asian businesses grew by 35 percent between 1997 and 2002, outpacing national Asian-owned business growth and overall growth, according to a new census report.

Nationally, Asian-owned businesses grew by 24 percent, more than double the rate for all businesses, according to "Survey of Business Owners: Asian-Owned Firms: 2002," released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 1.1 million Asian-owned businesses generated more than $326 billion in revenue in 2002, according to the report.

"The robust revenues of Asian-owned firms and the growth in the number of businesses provide yet another indicator that minority entrepreneurs are at the forefront as engines for growth in our economy," Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon said in a statement.

The businesses were largely concentrated in California and New York, which accounted for 59 percent of all Chinese-owned firms, 37 percent of all Asian Indian-owned firms and 46 percent of Korean-owned firms.

The counties with the most businesses were Los Angeles County, which had 140,411 firms with $52.5 billion in revenue; followed by 48,241 businesses in Queens County, N.Y., with $5.5 billion in revenue; and 46,015 in Orange County, Calif., with $11.3 billion in revenue.

In Utah, the 2,821 Asian-owned businesses accounted for $707 million in sales and receipts.

The increase is part of the overall jump in the state's Asian population, which grew by 44 percent between 1990 and 2000, said Robert Spendlove, manager of demographic and economic analysis for the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.

"I would anticipate there would continue to be very strong growth in Asian-owned businesses as well as other minority-owned businesses in the state," Spendlove said. "This is part of a long-term trend."

The Asian businesses account for 1.5 percent of all Utah firms, and Asians make up about 1.8 percent of the state's population, Spendlove said.

The census report includes privately held businesses with at least 51 percent Asian ownership. It does not include native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders.

In Utah and nationally, just under one in three Asian-owned businesses had paid employees. Some 7,145 Utahns were employed by Asian-owned businesses.

Utah's Asian-owned businesses were largely concentrated in Salt Lake County, with 504 businesses in Salt Lake City, 129 in Sandy and 269 in West Valley City.