Ash Kalra on Creating Small Business Opportunities in Silicon Valley

Here in Silicon Valley, the economy is booming. The freeways are full and companies like Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, are making record billions of dollars in profits.  However, sometimes lost in the euphoria of the market boom are small businesses and start-up ventures trying to survive in a hyper-competitive environment. 

While on the City Council, I have certainly made an effort to support economic development. In my Council District is the thriving Edenvale Technology Park, the third largest economic engine of our city outside of north San Jose and downtown.  I have worked to ensure that we remove burdens and lessen taxes for companies who want to invest in our city by locating their research facility or manufacturing plant in San Jose. I have personally taken CEO's and COO's on tours of our city to identify locations where we can help them find their new home to grow. 

At the same time, I have been keenly aware of the need to also provide the same customer service and incentives for small businesses and start-ups to find a home here in San Jose. 

Earlier this year, I was pleased when the adopted city budget included a small business liaison in the planning department. I have learned over the years that it is often times in the planning department where businesses get mired in the bureaucracy of plan checks and building permit inspections. This new business ambassador was specifically tasked to focus on immigrant owned businesses. Approximately two-thirds of small businesses are immigrant owned and, often times, city services and resources do not find their way to these hard-working entrepreneurs. 

I have also worked to bring opportunity to businesses that often times been shut out of government contracts. While the Chair of the Valley Transportation Authority, which doles out many millions in private contracts a year, we initiated the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. It is through this program that we increased our target goals for contracts to be earned by women and minority-owned businesses. 

This year, I was proud to bring forward the same program for expanding opportunities to small and minority owned businesses to the city of San Jose. I am also working with Council Member Manh Nguyen to ensure that businesses the city contracts with, such as vendors at the airport, reflect our community and give an opportunity for minority-owned businesses to share their quality food and products. 

An thriving economy needs to work for everyone, not just those with special knowledge or relationships with the right people. Those who work hard to invest in our local economy deserve a fair shake. For seven years, I have worked hard to ensure we are creating an economy that rewards the hard work of small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is great to see, as the economy grows, that many of those businesses are thriving and positioned for long-term success.

The article is written by San Jose City Councilmember Ash Kalra for LSI

Bao Nguyen for US Congress

Los Angeles County Democratic Party Chair & California Democratic Party Vice Chair Eric C. Bauman and Michael Andraychak cordially invite you to a house party supporting the Honorable Mayor of Garden Grove, Bao Nguyen, Candidate for U.S. Congress (CA-46), on Sunday, November 15, 2015, at 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at the home of Eric C. Bauman & Michael Andraychak, at 12777 Victory Blvd., in North Hollywood.

Bao was born in a UN refugee camp while his family escaped communist Vietnam to seek freedom and opportunity in America.

Michael Andraychak and Eric Bauman

Bao grew up in the district and is a proud product of public schools. After graduating from UC Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in political science, then a master’s degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies from Naropa University, Bao came back home to Garden Grove to teach, before turning to public service.

Bao is trilingual in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. He served on the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education prior to his 2014 election to a two-year term as the first Vietnamese American Democrat LGBTQ mayor in the United States.

For more information, please visit Bao2016.com.

Prayer Vigil for Jenny Do and Gia Vy Truong

About 100 people gathered to pray  for Attorney Jenny Do and Viet Tribune Publisher Vy Gia Truong last Saturday at Huyen Khong Temple in San Jose.  Huyen Khong Temple is a small house converted into a temple to serve the spiritual need of the Buddhist community.  

The prayer vigil was organized by Lillian Dang and Ngoc Nhi.  It was conducted from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM by the head abbott of the temple.  Some of their close friends including Dr. Nam Tran and Councilmember Ash Kalra were there for them.

This coming Saturday, November 7, there will be another prayer vigil at the Our Lady of Peace Shrine in Santa Clara for Jenny Do.

Ash Kalra for State Assembly

Jenny Do & Vy Gia Truong - Prayer Ceremony

Jenny Do's Wish List

Attorney Jenny Do recently was diagnosed with stage IV cancer.   The prognosis is 3-6 months survival rate or less.

The community has been rallied around her to support her and her causes.   In the 2007, she was named Woman of the Year by the California State Legislature in her district and she received a number of  recognitions for her anti-human trafficking and charity work in the Bay Area. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Wish List

Your outpouring of messages, texts, phone calls and postings on social media since my diagnosis has lifted me up. Your prayers and wishes give me strength and courage. I apologize that I have not been able to thank and answer all of you individually, as I have been overwhelmed by your responses!

But dear brothers and sisters, this is not the time to be sad. If we shed tears, let us crystallize them into positive energy. There is so much left to do, so little time to do it. Here is my short wish list for the causes dear to my heart:

1. The welfare of the Friends of Hue (FHF - www.friendsofhue.org

) children and youths continues to be my priority concern! Thanks to the generosity of our donors and supporters, the self-sustainability initiative of FHF’s outsourcing center, and our financially conservative operations, we don't need a huge amount of money to bridge the gap and cover the basic needs of our children.

My first wish therefore is that FHF continues to take care of the children living at the center and those we sponsor in the vicinity. I wish that we keep supporting them until they can fly on their own. Please help me continue the annual fund raising drives.

2. Next on my mind is the Ao Dai Festival (www.aodaifestival.org

). Its fourth edition will take place on May 15th, with or without me. More than just a celebration of the Vietnamese culture and history, ADF binds our youths to a common goal and empowers them for years to come!  I wish that this vision continues after I leave you, that ADF’s fourth edition isn’t the last, and that the torch is passed to willing and able volunteers who will carry on the tradition.

3. I have also fallen in love with the children of Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world. There I met Father Pedro Opeka, the founder of Akamasoa, an association that built 18 villages housing 3,000 families who used to live in cardboard boxes in the Antananarivo dumps.

I see in him the presence and beauty of human decency and humanity. Please trust this living Saint, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace prize in 2012. Send him your support (http://www.madagascar-america-foundation.org

). By donating $100, you can save a child from a garbage rummaging life.

4. Last but not least, I wish that our long-awaited, long-promised and long-dreamed Vietnamese-American Community Center of San José becomes reality. Oh, how I wish this to come true before I leave this world!

Its establishment has received the support of many City Councilmembers, community leaders, businesses, and individuals. Many plans have been proposed, many discussions have taken place, but the center still remains just a dream.

It is now time to make it a reality!

I have discussed with like-minded friends. In a few more days, I will describe our vision for a sustainable Vietnamese-American Community Center. It should be a place where the elders meet, where the youths gather and participate in healthy activities, where certain basic services are provided, and where people from different walks of life or cultures share experiences and enrich the community. It should also be a place where music and arts can thrive.

Self-sustainability will be essential. This will require a strong organization to plan and manage the project. We will need a diverse and robust board of directors, an experienced management team, support from all sectors and seed funding to get the project off the ground.

In order for our wishes to come true, I will need your help beyond anything that you have extended to me in the past. Our community is strong; if we join force, we can move mountains!

Please share the dream with me. Let us make a gift to ourselves and to future generations.And please accept my gratitude. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all.

Friends of Hue Foundation Gala

Last Sunday, Friends of Hue Foundation held their annual gala at Dynasty Restaurant.  The event was sold out with 300 people attended an raised over $40,000 for the children of Central Vietnam to support their education programs and a  children's shelter.  FHF was started in 2000 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation.   

At the fund raising for FHF Gala last Sunday,  city councilmembers Tam Nguyen,  Manh Nguyen and Ash Kalra gave the organization a commendation from Mayor Sam Liccardo as well as from their respective offices.   Councilmembers  Manh Nguyen ad Tam Nguyen also congratulate Jenny Do (Chairwoman) on her candidacy for D8.  

State assembly candidates Cong Do and Councilmember Ash Kalra also praised FHF for its charity work in Vietnam.   Vy Truong, owner of Viet Tribune, shared her experience working with Jenny Do and praised her tremendous efforts in building  the shelter to its presence success.