>> Funding for "NJ Biz Beat with Raven Santana" provided by NJMEP, a partner to New Jersey's manufacturing industry focus on productivity, performance, and strategic development.

More on NJMEP.org.

♪ >> This is NJ business feed with Raven Santana.

Raven: Thanks for joining me.

New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the nation and our Asian American Pacific Islander community is among the fastest growing groups in the state.

The Asian American population increased by almost 50% in the past decade.

Currently there are more than one million Asian Americans living in the Garden State and they own more than 103,000 businesses in New Jersey, proving how crucial they are to our economy.

Overall in the U.S., there are 2.5 million Asian owned businesses which turned 909 billion dollars in revenue annually.

They create more than 54 million workers.

Despite their growth, Asian Americans still face many hurdles when trying to run their own business.

This week, we are highlighting the economic accomplishments of the Asian American and Asian Indian business community while focusing on how to support those businesses.

We begin with the president of the New Jersey Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce.

We spoke about the state of the Asian Indian business community in New Jersey.

Tell me how the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey serves its members.

>> The mission of the chamber is to create a platform or businesses can meet and create opportunities for themselves.

In the process of doing that, we have networking events, evening networking events where we invite corporate's to come and make presentations, come and speak to our members, talk about opportunities available within the organizations.

Our focus has been on diversity.

The Asian Indian community is considered a minority and there are so many programs and so many initiatives to support minor businesses.

We basically are traveling on this bandwagon of supplier diversity, inviting corporate's to talk about programs and get our members certified.

Basically we have four key objectives and how we can help our members.

The first one is building awareness.

Programs like this, newsprint, social media, basically building awareness of what the chamber is doing.

Number two is education.

We want to educate our community on what is out there.

We are partners with the national minority supplier development Council.

We are partners with the women's development enterprise.

As we build these partnerships it is to educate our members.

Third is building value chains.

When we create a relationship with a corporate, it is adding to the value chain for the members and the corporate's.

Fourth is advocacy.

+ we seek out advocates for our chamber, our members in how they can grow their business.

In short, it is strictly a platform for people to connect.

Raven: In New Jersey, Asian Indians have done well in business and politics.

We have seen that in 2023.

But we know there are still challenges.

Talk about some of those challenges that the community still faces.

>> When my generation came to this country, we came on a shoestring.

We did not have any wealth or backing a family.

We were focused on getting educated, creating a business profession and raising our children.

As our children have grown up and become young adults, they have the support, the family support.

They are venturing more and more into political arenas, arts, government.

Areas where we were not able to.

So you look at Nikki Haley.

She is right up there being a presidential candidate.

I just spoke with another gentleman yesterday who wants to join the chamber basically to pursue political awareness amongst our members.

The chamber itself is very apolitical.

It does not take sides in politics, whether Democrat or Republican.

But it does create a platform.

Raven: Are you reaching out to the younger entrepreneurs?

Is that the goal as well?

>> We had half the existing board not be considered for reelection.

Among the new elects, we have three individuals that are in their mid-30's.

Consciously, intentionally transitioning to a younger group.

They are the future of our community and this country.

Raven: When we think about progress and we think about Indians and government state contracts, do you feel that they are considered on a fair playing ground as other minority groups?

>> For people who understand the process and are into the process whichever way they got into it, they really are leveraging it to the maximum they can and taking full advantage of it.

A lot of our community members are just not aware.

They are not aware that they have some opportunities in government.

That is one of our key objectives, to educate our members, showcase the opportunities available to them, and we are also doing that with other chambers.

The Hispanic chamber, the pride chamber.

They are way ahead of the game in accessing those programs.

We are seeking their help to see what programs they are following and how they are educating their members and helping us develop the same kind of programs.

Raven: Thank you so much for joining me.

>> It's really a great opportunity to showcase our community, our chamber, and the only way forward is up.

Raven: Like many minority groups, mentoring and financial support are two crucial parts in starting a business.

There are a number of organizations around the country supporting Asian American business owners including the U.S. pan Asian American commerce.

The group is to link Asian American business owners with corporate and government contracts.

Something that can prove difficult for any minority business owner.

I sat down with the USPACC to talk about how the group supports business owners.

Tell me about the history of the U.S. Pan American Chamber of Commerce, the number of businesses, and types of businesses it serves in New Jersey.

>> Over the 30 years, USPACC has established itself as a leader connecting members to corporations, governments, nonprofits, small and minority businesses through the matchmaking program.

Our mission including being a gateway to corporate and government contracts for Asian American suppliers and providing the information about Asian American and the Indian cyber continents.

We promote economic growth through the business development program and representing a diverse range of Asian ethnic groups.

Raven: Let's talk about what are some of the challenges for AAPI owned businesses.

>> In New Jersey, we represent probably the third-largest Asian American population in the United States.

We have probably combined on the business side to have like $44 billion in business.

Over the years, when you are looking at New Jersey, the biggest pre-pandemic, the biggest challenge I think there are two things.

One is the economic impact from this COVID pandemic because a lot of the business in New Jersey is the service sector.

A lot of restaurants.

A lot of salons.

A lot of manufacturers and hospitality business.

They really got a lot of impact from the Covid.

Another thing that I think really bothered the community is the violence and the discrimination through this Asian hate.

Raven: You touched on the challenges.

Let's talk about the contributions that have been made to businesses in New Jersey's economy.

>> Overall, we have over 100,000 businesses, AAPI owned businesses.

Representing $44 billion in revenue.

Of course, there is a huge job opportunity.

It is not just that.

I think because our cultural background offers a lot of different diversity and perspectives.

Raven: Tell me about the partnerships with other minority chambers.

>> We are not working alone.

We have a lot of allies working together.

Really close to my heart is the women's initiative strategic empowerment.

We call it wise.

It is really a platform with all the women in the AAPI community and also with interested allies from all the different corporations.

We are empowering and uplifting, to offer them mentors and to give our other AAPI women to have a seat at the table.

Raven: Thank you for joining me.

>> thank you so much.

Raven: You will find a wide variety of services and products available from Asian and Asian Indian owned businesses in the Garden State.

We wanted to meet one of those business owners, so we traveled to this bridal shop, a specialty boutique that caters to brides and grooms looking for traditional and sophisticated wedding attire.

I sat down with the co-owner of the shop to talk about why he and his sister started the business and what makes it so unique.

We are sitting in the biggest salvation bridal boutique in the country.

Tell me more.

>> We have over 350 bridal outfits in this space.

We are the first of our kind and we wanted this to be a could tour experience, but at the same time also have inventory so the bride is coming in and getting 10 pieces, 15 pieces to look at.

She, her mom, her sisters, everyone can find something they are looking for.

Raven: Tell me about the name.

How did you come up with the name?

>> Back in the day when the groom's mom would see the bride for the first time and would finalize the relationships going through, she would give her usually a Bengal, signifying the relationship was going through.

Raven: Tell me more about what you offer here.

Is it just for the brides?

Is it for mother of the bride?

And tell me a little bit about the services you offer.

>> This store is kind of predominantly bridal.

Bridal in the sense that it is for the bride, the groom's mom, the bride's mom, their sisters, everyone can find something they are looking for.

We have a separate location notice a three minute drive where we have everything for the grooms.

If we have 350 bridal outfits for the bride, we have about 1200 outfits for the grooms there.

Raven: I was lucky enough to get a tour with my producer.

There were three floors of fabulousness.

Tell me a little bit about how much time it takes, how much some of these outfits way, and what that price tag looks like.

>> Our outfits weigh anywhere from about 15 pounds to 60-65 pounds.

In terms of pricing, our outfits range from $1500 to $7,500.

We have brides that shop with us three months advance all the way to years in advance.

Where every detail needs to be hammered out.

We do sketches from the very beginning.

We do renditions all the way to final fitting.

Everything happens in house with us.

Whether it is that, their bridesmaids, groomsmen, figuring out the bridal party colors.

All that.

We are a full-service shop in that sense.

Raven: What I love most about your story is that Yuko owned this with your sister.

How did that all happen?

What I understand is that that was not the original plan when both of you want to college.

>> No, I was Econ and she was premed.

While we were in college, we were helping dad out.

We had one retail store at the time.

While she was at the store, she saw there was a niche that was not being covered.

There were brides that want today cotour experience.

That led to the birth of our shop and the rest is history.

Raven: Your wife also designs jewelry here as well.

>> Yes, my sister does the women's outfits, I do the men's outfits, and my wife does the jewelry read.

Raven: 100% of everything comes from India?

>> Yes, everything does come from India because we don't have the artisans to be able to make the product here, the technical knowledge that is needed, the materials that are needed, and the overall expertise that is needed.

That is why everything is manufactured in India.

Raven: This is really a go to for the South Asian community, but we know that this is not just for salvation brides.

Can you talk about, 30% of the brides here are not salvation?

>> Both the brides in the grooms , 30% to 40% of the weddings or fusion weddings.

Because we own our supply chain, it really allows us to cater to that market and understand their needs and work around it.

Traditionally, you see a bride in a fusion wedding.

Not a lot of stores will cater to that, we can make something like that.

She wants some element of an American down in it.

Whether it is adding a train or adding a veil.

All of that, we have done and we have been able to encompass that.

Raven: I also got a tour of the storage areas and where you tailor many of these stresses.

So everything is here.

>> We try to make your life as easy as possible.

We have five tailors on site.

Once a piece has come in.

Raven: What is your favorite part of the store?

>> Just seeing someone crying in the store.

It is a feeling I can't explain.

There is a particular spot in the store when the bride will sit down, she will have her jewelry on.

The mom will be there and she will just be bawling and it is such a beautiful experience.

Raven: Thank you so much for joining me.

>> thank you for coming.

Raven: From bridal shops to major construction, you can see the influence of Asian Americans all over New Jersey and you may soon see it in one of the most important infrastructure projects in modern American history, the gateway tunnel project.

You and Associates put in a bid and this group has the experience to do it, working on major projects like Yankee Stadium, turnpike widening in New Jersey, and University Hall at Montclair State University.

I sat down to talk about the company's history and how they help other AAPI firms and the possibility of working on gateway.

Andrew, tell me the history of you and Associates and the mission to improve New Jersey's transportation infrastructure.

>> The firmest 30 years old.

Over 30 years old.

I joined the from 22 years ago.

Raven: wow.

>> With the mission of bringing in more infrastructure projects into the company.

One of the funding projects we have, we always cheer for that.

A long history of how we work at the beginning serving to bring in the improvement to everyone.

That project at that time, we were very small.

We were a very small company, but we delivered a great value service to the client.

That got recognition.

We have an award from the Federal transit administration is the best firm providing service, it was a breakthrough for us.

Since then, in 2008, we participated in one of the major projects in New Jersey, the exit 629 widening project.

That was a $2.5 billion contract.

Raven: That's a big project.

>> We were a consultant on that.

At that time, there are a lot of uncharted territory.

There are many unknowns.

We adapt to it and change and deliver the service.

Raven: You talk about hard work.

What are some of the biggest challenges?

>> There are numerous.

As a small entity, it also depends on what discipline you have.

We provide the brainpower to help the team consultant to accomplish the work.

Hard work is a major component, but also the challenges bringing and getting the right people involved is very important.

Also, we know that the pandemic hit.

So financing is also important.

I recognize that some of the small business administration's already help out.

Raven: How are you and Associates helping other AAPI businesses?

>> We talk about hard work and knowing what you do best.

How you communicate with many stakeholders what you are good at.

These are very, very important.

Honestly, our part of it, we want to share with others so that they know that these are known difficulties.

I always believe in fast and forward.

A lot of times we know what difficulties lie ahead.

We let other people anticipate it and together we can overcome it.

Raven: When you talk about working together, partnerships, I want to ask you, if you were able to land a contract on the Gateway project, we know there was a bid.

You put in a bid.

How could this be transformative when we think about elevating DI ?

>> We would need to bring all the right people on board.

To allow a very important project in the region and bring it up to many people.

Many Asian businesses and many minorities.

Knowing what they can contribute.

The key part, many people do not know how important it is to get certified, to get to know about that your skill will get recognized, your contributions.

And how you get to know the right people on board.

And there will be people introduced.

No matter where you go.

Raven: Thank you so much, Andrew, for joining me every it I appreciate it.

Before we leave you tonight, here is a look at the top business headlines of the week.

The union representing faculty at NJIT voted to authorize the first-ever strike at the campus.

The union and school administrators will head to the bargaining table.

Faculty have been working without a contract for more than a year.

They are fighting for improved health care, childcare care, and better wages.

The two sides did meet and said they have come to an agreement on the essential economic terms of the contract.

Faculty members still say it took the school more than a year to come to the bargaining table.

If talks break down, they are not afraid to walk off the job.

>> I'm very prepared to strike.

I think the strike authorization is not an empty threat.

We are all sort of feeling frustrated and disrespected and feeling like this was the last resort and they have less dots no choice.

Raven: New York's MTA approved the $15 base fare on top of regular tolls for cars entering Manhattan South.

The board voted 9-1 in favor of the plan.

Now the proposal goes into a 60 day review period where the public can weigh in before final approval and implementation.

Congestion pricing is expected to bring in $1 billion per year for the MTA to use on improvements to the mass transit system.

Some environmental advocates say congestion pricing will lead to cleaner air for everyone in the region and less traffic.

But New Jersey representatives argue the plan is too costly for Garden State drivers.

Getting on a path train might be quicker thanks to new tap and go technology being installed in New Jersey and New York.

It is called the tapp and with that you can pay for your ride at the special turnstiles with a contactless card or digital wallet on your smartphone.

The five tap turnstiles were installed in two locations this week, at General Square in Jersey City and 33rd Street in Manhattan.

It is a pilot program, but the port authority says it plans to expand it to other stations based on feedback.

That does it for us.

Remember to subscribe to our Spotlight news YouTube channel to get alerted when we post new clips.

I'm Raven Santana.

Next week, the major business accomplishments in New Jersey in 2023 and discuss the economic outlook for 2024.

Thanks for watching and we will see you next week.

>> Funding provided by NJMEP, a partner to New Jersey's manufacturing industry focus on productivity, performance, and strategic development.

More on NJMEP.org.

♪