Sunday, April 10, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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The Las Vegas Asian population started growing somewhere in the late 1990s. They saw Las Vegas the same way most people see it, as a beautiful city that is a wonderful place to live.
As of the last census, there were 350,000 Asians living in Clark County. Nevada is one of only a few states where Asians are the second-largest minority. Today’s population of Asians in Nevada represents a 900% increase since 1990.
We take education very seriously, which is why graduation rates for both high school and college are quite high. Homeownership is over 65%, and most Asians are bicultural and middle- to upper-middle class. This gives the Asian population tremendous spending power.
As far as business is concerned, there are now close to 22,000 Asian-owned businesses in Nevada, An increase of over 5,000 in the past seven years. Chinatown is one of the most visited places in Las Vegas, and its businesses have helped increase the property values along Spring Mountain Road, which is now one of the more expensive places in the city to rent commercial property.
Asians are also represented in diverse industries, from medical and education to business ownership and the hospitality industry. In the past five years, Asians have also helped our education system, having over 400 educators come here to fill a teacher void, especially in special education. The same goes for the health care industry, where 20% of local nurses are Asian.
So, what does this all mean? Asians are incredible contributors to the community and business in Nevada. We help the economy by purchasing homes and goods. With our emphasis on education, we help the talent pool in our workforce.
Asian business owners are job creators, and their fees and taxes help with the state’s revenue stream. We help in the tourism industry, and we try to be model citizens.
There are several opportunities for the community and Asian businesses to continue to grow. As our leaders work on increasing the pipeline for the shortages in various industries, the Asian community can help fill these voids through our kids, who are passionate about these jobs. We can continue to accept qualified Asian immigrants to help while we are working on the issue.
Most Asian-owned businesses are traditional businesses such as restaurants, doctor’s offices, or retail. They will be fine, as these services are always needed. Just like Nevada, becoming more diversified is the largest opportunity. Getting into the tech industry or advanced manufacturing would be great.
What’s needed is equal access to resources that open up these opportunities. For the younger generation or those born here, this is less of an issue. But for the 70% of the Asians who have migrated here, knowing where to find these resources is a challenge, as are translation services. Most agencies translate to Spanish but not always to Chinese, Tagalog or other Asian languages. It is a challenge for potential business owners not just to understand the wording on important documents but also the process.
The Asian community has increasingly been more involved in the political scene, which makes me happy, as one of our biggest challenges is the lack of representation in government. To our political candidates, representation is what we need — engaging our community to find out what is important to us and what our challenges are.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is an important subject for us. Our schools do not teach about Asians in U.S. history, so when we make a DEI presentation to companies and students, they are often amazed to learn how Asians have contributed to our history and how they continue to contribute.
Having a voice, being included in available opportunities and translation services are three issues that can help the Asian community and businesses in Nevada.
We also need to continue our great relationship with law enforcement. Our partnership, especially with Las Vegas Metro and the FBI, has been instrumental in keeping us safe. For example, the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce brings 15 business owners quarterly to meet with the Spring Valley command to help build that relationship. As a graduate of the FBI citizens academy, I help organize roundtables with various Asian community organizations with Special Agent in Charge Aaron Rouse. I have also been part of the attorney general’s tech crime board. Having these relationships helps tremendously.
I am proud of how the Asian community contributes to so many phases of our community. We have become an integral part, especially in health care, education and tourism. This trend will continue and I hope the next step will be adding to our small contingent of Asian Nevada political leaders.
Sonny Vinuya is director for the Office of Small Business Advocacy and president of the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce.
