Hmong Community an Asset to St. Paul

Mayor Randy Kelly and community leaders in St. Paul deserve credit for their proactive approach toward our newest immigrants soon to be arriving from Thailand.

The Hmong are a dynamic and entrepreneurial presence in St. Paul. They have added a lot to the economic base of the city. A few facts from the Census and other studies will help illustrate this fact.

The buying power of the Hmong community in St. Paul is an estimated $203 million. As consumers of houses, cars, groceries and entertainment they help to sustain the economic vitality of the city. Hmong buying power in the Thomas-Dale neighborhood is an estimated $52 million and $58 million in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood.

According to Census 2000 data, the Hmong pay an estimated $1.75 million in real estate taxes in the city. Hmong households pay an estimated $1 million in rent. There are 1,609 Hmong-owned housing units with mortgage payments; 49 percent of Hmong households in St. Paul are homeowners. There are an estimated 5,782 Hmong workers, many of whom work in the city. These workers buy cars, among other things, as Census data show that 74 percent of Hmong workers drove alone to work. They also pay an estimated $22 million in state and local taxes.

Hmong firms make up most of the metro area's 991 "Other Asian" firms in the Economic Census 1999. These firms had an estimated $104 million in sales. Ninety-five percent of Hmong business owners are proficient in English. Hmong businesses are concentrated in the FIRE (finance, insurance and real
estate) and food and retail businesses.

One just has to go back in time to see the impact of Hmong and other minority entrepreneurs on the revitalization of University Avenue, Payne Avenue, Rice Street and Dale Street. Most of this revitalization was done through personal resources. As a recent Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
study documents, 90 percent of Hmong businesses used personal resources to start their businesses.

Economics aside, the Hmong community has greatly enriched the political and social capital in the city. St. Paul has national recognition for being the home of two Hmong state legislators. Sen. Mee Moua is recognized as a champion of many statewide issues and not just those of the Hmong community. Rep. Cy Thao's art was recently displayed in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

There are Hmong musicians, artists, storytellers, comedians, attorneys, doctors, Internet consultants, automobile repair technicians, educators, developers and child care providers living in the city. Two bilingual newspapers, Hmong Times and Hmong Today as well as the Center for Hmong Art
and Talent and the Hmong Resource Center are located in St. Paul. The Federal Reserve study and Census data document the progress of the Hmong community during the past decade. The growing presence of Hmong professionals, entrepreneurs and developers reflects this progress.

The significance of the presence of this dynamic and entrepreneurial community is being honored and institutionalized in the newly established Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia University in St. Paul. The goal of the center is to provide a space where Hmong academics and community members can document the past and provide thoughtful reflection on the challenges for the future.

There is a perception among some that the newest immigrants will be a burden on the city's resources. What these people do not realize is that the Hmong community will absorb most of the expenses for the new arrivals. For example, a friend of mine in the remodeling business spoke about a client who is expanding his basement so that he can provide hospitality to his relatives. The new immigrants from Thailand will be fortunate to come into developed social support systems and networks that will help in the transition to life in the United States.

What Mayor Kelly and other St. Paulites know: that far from being a burden, the Hmong community is helping transform St. Paul into a truly global city. We can already see this happening. My neighbor summed it up aptly while we talked about the new immigrants from Thailand. She appreciated the help the Hmong gave to U.S. troops in the Vietnam War and welcomed the latest wave to this great land of immigrants. It is this spirit of hospitality and graciousness that makes St. Paul such a great place to live.

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Corrie is professor of economics at Concordia University in St. Paul. E-mail him at corrie@csp.edu.