The latest census figures released show the number of Asian American owned businesses jumped 40 percent between 2002 and 2007.
The survey is taken every five years and the 2012 survey is just now getting underway. If history is an indication, we should see another surge from the 2012 results. Since 1880, immigrants have been statistically more likely to own their own business than their American born peers.
This pattern has continued with the immigration of Vietnamese Americans, according to a report in the Global Viets. In 2007 Vietnamese Americans owned 229,149 non-farm businesses, an increase of more than 55 percent from 2002. Unlike other Asian owned businesses, Vietnamese Americans are less likely to engage in trade with their former homeland. Many came to the United States to escape communism so this is not surprising. Many see owning a business as a way to control their own destiny.