“Helping NYC's Vital Asian-Owned Business Come Back Stronger"
A Center for an Urban Future and Asian American Federation Virtual Policy Symposium

Replay of the event

There's little doubt that Asian-owned businesses will be crucial to New York City's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, there were more than 47,000 Asian-owned firms across the five boroughs, nearly a quarter (23 percent) of all businesses citywide. And during the previous five years, the number of Asian-owned firms in the city increased by 14.3 percent—nearly double the increase among white-owned businesses (8.6 percent) and all minority-owned businesses (7.4 percent).

But Asian-owned small businesses across the city have been especially hard-hit during the past 19 months. Some have experienced catastrophic declines in sales due to the economic hardship facing residents in their communities, others in neighborhoods like Manhattan's Chinatown have also struggled as the number of tourists and office workers plummeted, and many have also been impacted by the increase in anti-Asian violence. This forum shined a spotlight on New York's Asian-owned businesses at a pivotal moment in the city's ongoing recovery and discussed what public and private sector leaders should do to bolster this vital part of New York's economy for the long term.

Speakers included:

• Senator Charles E. Schumer, United States Senate Majority Leader
• Congresswoman Grace Meng, U.S. House of Representatives 
• Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, New York State Assembly 
• Council Member-Elect Shekar Krishnan, New York City Council
• Council Member-Elect Linda Lee, New York City Council; President, Korean Community Services
• Joanne Kwong, President, Pearl River Mart
• Ikhwan Rim, President, Union Street Small Business Association
• Edward Song, Founder, Korilla BBQ and Cookspace
• Yanki Tshering, Executive Director, Accompany Capital
• Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director, Asian American Federation.

A video of the full discussion is available here.

This symposium was made possible through generous support from HSBC. We are also grateful for general support from The Clark Foundation, the Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation, the Altman Foundation, and ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.