070301 Minnesota: Loan program established for Twin Cities Hmong

Associated Press

Wells Fargo & Co. has teamed up with a Hmong foundation in St. Paul to create a
small-business loan program for the Twin Cities Hmong community.

Wells Fargo will invest $60,000 in the Vang Pao Foundation to help increase access to
capital, educate entrepreneurs and consumers about credit and establish the Higher
Risk Investment Fund.

The foundation plans to raise a total of $2.5 million to $3 million from Hmong leaders
and businesses for the fund, said spokesman Cha Vang.

"Our goal is that our people understand how to establish and use credit as a key to
economic growth," he said. "Our people are not used to this society of using credit."

Wells Fargo will help the foundation manage the Higher Risk Investment Fund, which
will secure some Hmong business loans that don't meet Wells Fargo's loan criteria, Cha
Vang said. He said he would like to attract more banks to get involved in the fund.

Wells Fargo plans to expand the loan program nationally to other states with Hmong
communities, said John Berg, a Wells Fargo executive vice president.

Minnesota is home to more than 60,000 Hmong, the state's largest Asian group, with
most living in the Twin Cities area. Hmong refugees first came to Minnesota after
their home country of Laos fell to communists in the 1970s, but more recent immigrants
have come from California and other states.

In addition to Wells Fargo, the Vang Pao Foundation has formed partnerships with the
University of St. Thomas, which will help Hmong entrepreneurs develop business plans;
and the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, which will help link Hmong businesses with
larger local businesses.

The foundation was formed a year ago to further the work of Gen. Vang Pao, an
international Hmong leader.

© Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved.


http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=HMON04&date=04-Jul-2001&word=hmong&word=lao

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