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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\
Alan Fogg,
Director of Communications
afogg@fceda.org, 703-790-0600
Census Bureau Counts 10,623 Asian-Owned Firms in Fairfax County
County figure is almost half of Virginia total and tops one-third of Washington-area total, FCEDA says
Fairfax County, Virginia, May 22, 2001 — New U.S. Census Bureau data counted 10,623 Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned companies based in Fairfax County, 47.3 percent of those counted throughout Virginia and 34.5 percent of those found in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA).
The Census Bureau said revenues topped $1.87 billion for Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned firms in Fairfax County. Most of the firms are sole proprietorships, but 2,525 of them employed some 16,803 persons in 1997, the year the bureau took its economic census.
"The data isn't a great surprise to me. This is the land of opportunity for all business people," said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the FCEDA.
Census data released in March found 4,960 Hispanic-owned firms and 3,336 black-owned firms in Fairfax County in 1997.
Because it has changed how it categorizes and tabulates companies, the Census Bureau cautions against comparing the 1997 data with the previous economic census in 1992. That year the bureau counted 6,518 firms in the category that included Asian-owned firms.
Koreans owned the largest number of firms inVirginia and the Washington, D.C., area, with large numbers of firms also owned by Vietnamese, Asian Indians, Chinese and Filipinos. The Census Bureau did not break down local data by ethnicity. In 2000 the South Korean government established the Korea Venture Center in Fairfax County to help Korean businesses expand into the American market.
On July 11-13, 2001, Fairfax County will host the first-ever Emerging Business Forum, a conference that will help Asian-American, Indian-American, African-American, Hispanic-American and Native American technology entrepreneurs find ways to get more business, funding and networking opportunities. For more information on the conference, visit www.emergingbusinessforum.org or call 703-790-0304.
The FCEDA (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) promotes Fairfax County as a business and technology center. The FCEDA assists businesses by identifying possible sites and facilities, and is a source for up-to-date demographic and economic statistics. The FCEDA has a program to assist small, minority and women-owned firms. The FCEDA maintains marketing offices in London, Frankfurt and Tokyo.
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