Fresno County partners with Access Plus Capital to study Southeast Asian businesses

Fresno County announced a countywide study aimed at documenting and addressing the needs of Southeast Asian-owned businesses, a campaign organizers say could unlock loans and technical support for a community described as more than 80,000 individuals strong. The study was unveiled Friday morning outside La Kitchen, a Laotian American restaurant in southeast Fresno, where Access Plus Capital and local partners laid out the effort.

Access Plus Capital, described as a "federally certified mission lender," is leading the research. Fresnoland described Tate Hill, the nonprofit lender’s CEO, as someone who "spends his days working to connect entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds to loans and other assistance programs." Councilmember Brandon Vang joined Hill and representatives from local Southeast Asian community organizations and businesses to announce the project on Jan. 30, 2026.

Organizers said the study will compile data on employment, payroll, firm count and sector distribution for the county’s Southeast Asian businesses and will also assess specific capital and technical assistance needs among those business owners. Fresnoland framed the dataset as the first of its kind for Fresno County and for California, and as "one of just a handful of similar studies of Southeast Asian business owners across the country." Project leaders and county officials said the research aims to correct a previous policy blind spot: until 2023 federal guidelines excluded Asian communities from lists mission lenders could target, a change that Fresnoland said had "rendered invisible in local business data" many Southeast Asian entrepreneurs.

The study arrives as long-standing neighborhood businesses cope with steep cost pressures and displacement. The kNOw Youth Media, citing reporting in the Fresno Bee, reported that Pauline Dunn closed Shanghai Chinese Cuisine on Jan. 20 after 44 years, blaming "thieves, labor struggles, and overall rent increases, alongside economic matters such as food inflation and location instability." The same reporting cited Hunan Chinese Restaurant manager Isaac Huang saying "the price of chicken has gone up 77%," and noted PG&E electricity bills rose about 11% since the start of 2024. Benaddiction owner James Caples told reporters he felt "disappointment" after being pushed out of an eight-year location at Bullard and Marks and struggled to find a new property with a fully operating kitchen.

Key details remain unresolved. Sources do not specify who is funding the study, the timeline for completion, the methodology for data collection, or whether farmers are explicitly included. A truncated FresnoBee fragment in the materials reads: "... Southeast Asian business owners and farmers face extra challenges applying for loans and funding. Many government agencies don't employ", the line cuts off and requires follow-up.

For Fresno small-business owners and residents, the study could translate statistics into targeted loan programs, outreach, and technical-assistance resources that reflect the county’s ethnic and linguistic diversity. What comes next is clarity: Access Plus Capital and Fresno County will need to publish the study plan, partners, timeline, and data-access rules so community organizations and affected businesses can participate and benefit.