The Twin Cities on Tuesday became the seventh city in the country to host an economic summit for Asian-American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities with federal resources under President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda.
Held at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, the event drew a large crowd and focused on linking immigrants with federal support to promote economic growth and inclusivity. Similar summits have been held in Philadelphia, Chicago, Seattle, New York City, Honolulu and Atlanta.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-5th District, and her family arrived in Minnesota when they immigrated from Somalia and Kenya nearly 30 years ago. Elected to the House in 2018, she hopes to provide the next generation of immigrants with “great opportunities to achieve the American dream.”
“I’m glad that folks that are not from Minnesota have the opportunity today to be here with us to see the opportunities that Minnesota offers to take lessons from us that can be implemented in which we continue to thrive and utilize every opportunity that we have to create a more inclusive and welcoming society,” Omar said.
The event was hosted in partnership with several federal agencies, including the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as the National Asian and Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship and state and local leaders.
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United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Deputy SBA Administrator Dilawar Syed were among the officials who attended.
“This is one area where the growth and the development of [the community], economically and politically, and its leaders across the board is really strong,” Tai said. “It’s a part of pushing ourselves to leave the comfort of Washington to come out and connect with our fellow Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and to learn and educate us on how we can make our policies more responsive and more effective.”
Participants could gather materials at several tables that were set up about various programs or companies. White House leaders and government figures spoke to the summit attendees in the auditorium, sharing ways immigrants can access federal jobs, grants and programs.
The Minnesota summit saw one of its biggest turnouts in attendance compared to previous summits, primarily with its target group in the Asian-American community.
“Today’s summit is actually the result of a recommendation that our President’s Advisory Commission made to the president, encouraging the administration to ensure that we could better connect our local communities, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and our community leaders with critical federal resources to ensure that they have the capital the the information and the resources that they need to thrive,” said Krystal Ka’ai, executive director for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
In addition to helping immigrants, the event was also designed to provide information to local businesses who can then inform others about these opportunities.
Syed said past events brought the community together through learning opportunities from the government. He noted that the Biden-Harris Administration would need to wait several years to accurately assess the effectiveness of its summits, as communities require time to become reliable indicators of the impact.
“This is why we’re here, to talk about this and make sure that in the long term we can have a measurable impact,” Syed said. “We want local leaders to step up. Make sure that they are connecting with our local population and local entrepreneur communities.”
Maddie Gonzales
Maddie is an audience development and reporting intern with MinnPost.
