“GROW SOUTH” program in Asian communities inititative

Continuing Effort by City of Dallas to initiate “GROW SOUTH” program in Asian communities

(from L to R) Clifton Miller, Lily Qian, Diana Zhang, Katherine Dress,
Anuj Patel, Tennell Atkins, Thomas Tsang, Henry Yiu, Gal Jumao-as, Ken Tse

Due to the relentless, pro-active joint effort of Clifton Miller (Past President of Greater Dallas Planning Council), the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce (GDAACC) and the Asian American Contractor Association of Texas(AACATX); the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, Tennell Atkins and Director of Economic Development, Karl Zavitkovsky, agreed to meet at the City Hall today – to open up the dialogue for increasing the Asian community’s involvement in attracting investments, increasing tax basis and employment opportunities in South Dallas.
Several issues were raised and discussed by the City of Dallas and the attending parties, such as:-
1)    Establishing business development plan
2)    Providing information concerning EB-5 to various Asian American ethnic groups, such as Chinese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, etc.
3)    Establishing employment strategy to encourage local residents to enhance and/or create a friendly neighborhood.
4)    Security concerns were addressed by the newly formed Gold Star program.
5)    Need to improve the connection with local Asian communities and to assist them to bring in local and/or foreign investments.
After the very much involved discussion between the parties, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem, Tennell Atkins suggested we need to convene further to establish more definitive objectives and goals.

Written by Thomas Tsang, Co-chair of Economic Development Committee, of AACATX