One type of business has a special affinity for California — Asian businesses. They have substantial ethnic communities built up, and are comfortable being on a Pacific Rim state.

But oddly enough, these Asian business people seem to have an interest in maximizing profits — or at least staying in business. Of course, all California businessmen have the same desires, but not all have the bonding ties to their local ethnic communities that is common among Koreans, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Chinese and Japanese.

Retail businesses do not move easily, as they have an established customer base that won’t move with them. But other businesses that MAKE things don’t have that problem, and now other states are beckoning.

The oddest state is also perhaps the most economically attractive — Texas. Asians probably don’t relish moving to that stereotypically redneck state, far from their established roots in CA. But closer inspection reveals significant Asian populations scattered around the state.

CONSIDER THIS: Per capita, and adjusted for the cost of living, CA ranks 37th in GDP of the 50 states. Only 13 states are worse.

http://riderrants.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-true-ranking-of-californias-gdp-vs.html

Moreover, even without considering the huge difference in COL, Texas now has a slightly higher per capita GDP than CA.

http://riderrants.blogspot.com/2015/07/update-on-california-vs-texas-gdp.html

There comes a time when the CA anti-business politicians and their policies become too much for these folks to tolerate. And Texas is actively wooing these frustrated business owners. Consider this warning article in the LA TIMES:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-me-korean-jobber-market-20150902-story.html



The fight to keep Korean businesses in L.A.

By VICTORIA KIM

When Daejae Kim arrived in Los Angeles three decades ago, he took his first step into the apparel business in downtown’s fashion district, where a budding Korean entrepreneurial community was beginning to take hold.

His wife got a job as a store clerk. He peddled textiles. Eventually, they built their own wholesale and manufacturing business selling trendy women’s clothing.

Today, Korean businesses represent at least a third — and possibly half — of the businesses in the garment district, generating at least $10 billion in annual revenues and providing 20,000 jobs, according to the Korean American Apparel Manufacturers Assn.

And now Kim and other Korean American clothing makers are eyeing a new frontier.

On Wednesday, a broker from the Texas border town is scheduled to slip into L.A. to describe factory space and talk price per square foot with the business owners. And later this month the trade association, which represents 1,800 Korean American manufacturers and distributors, will send a group to scout El Paso.

Squeezed, they say, by Los Angeles’ rising minimum wage, stricter labor enforcement and ebbing Latin American clientele following a federal raid against alleged money laundering operations last year, Kim and other Korean business owners are flirting with the idea of relocating to El Paso.

. . .

To read the rest of the article, go to the link:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-me-korean-jobber-market-20150902-story.html