SCALE Supports Local Wealth Creation as Driving Factor of Economic Inclusion Growth

Photo of Brian and La Keomanivong, husband and wife business co-owners of LA Kitchen, at the Southeast Asian Business Study press conference

SCALE Fresno is an organization that helps small businesses in Fresno County realize their full potential. It works to increase economic inclusion countywide – an integral piece of DRIVE’s mission.

Convened by Access Plus Capital, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving Central California, and funded by the James Irvine Foundation, SCALE is dedicated to empowering small business owners to scale and create thriving entities — especially for women, people of color, and first-time business owners. SCALE works to assemble lenders, business service providers, and trusted community organizations to provide a convenient, central place for business owners to access capital and resources. The SCALE model is designed to strengthen communities and families with local wealth creation. Established referral networks, shared spaces, and events congregate entrepreneurs, service providers, and policymakers to establish the groundwork for systemic policy changes aimed at solving the wide-ranging issues of struggling small business owners. SCALE’s programming is fundamental to supporting diverse entrepreneurs and businesses in the Fresno County region.

SCALE recently launched California’s first-ever comprehensive Southeast Asian Business Study, funded by Access Plus Capital. The study aims to address the disparities faced by Fresno County’s Southeast Asian entrepreneurs by ensuring these small business owners are accounted for in data, funding, and policy decisions that affect Fresno County. According to the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, Fresno County has one of California’s largest Southeast Asian populations — with approximately 37,291 Hmong residents and 20,182 Filipino residents, along with expanding Cambodian (Khmer), Laotian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, and Burmese/Myanmar communities.

The study was launched in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Hmong resettlement in the United States to honor the community's legacy of resilience and advance economic inclusion for Fresno County’s Hmong community.

Fresno DRIVE recognizes how vital small businesses are to our local economy. In fact, per a 2024 OnDeck study, Fresno had the second highest percentage of sustainable, family-owned businesses in the U.S. Though this information is encouraging, we must ensure that access to capital and supports are equitably distributed among all our small business owners. If this can be achieved, it could be an excellent example of how a small business can lead to family wealth over time. Moreover, this is why DRIVE partners with SCALE Fresno. 

Learn more about SCALE here and stay tuned for future updates on the implementation of the Southeast Asian Business Study.