AAPI Small Business Expo Kicks Off In St. Paul Saturday – WCCO

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – Could is Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage month and dozens of space companies are coming collectively this weekend for the primary AAPI Small enterprise expo.

Greater than 70 Asian-owned and supported companies will participate within the expo at Metro State College in St. Paul. The occasion is hosted by the Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce and its companions together with the Hmong American Partnership.

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HAP’s CEO, Could yer Thao mentioned whereas many companies have struggled throughout the pandemic, Asian companies have confronted even larger hardship due to the rise in anti-Asian hate not simply across the nation, however in Minnesota as effectively.

This expo comes at an vital time when many Asian companies have solely began to reopen within the latter half of 2021.

Thao mentioned now could be the time to return collectively and present assist.

“We now know, that is the time and if we don’t benefit from this time, by which our neighborhood has been so focused, so wrongly within the final couple of years, but additionally it’s a time the place our nation as a complete has reached its most heightened consciousness of racial inequities, racial injustices and so we have to take this second to actually carry that visibility forth and have that appreciation for all of our communities,” Thao mentioned.

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Pangea World Theatre in Minneapolis has been preventing for social justice and equality by means of its performs, productions and neighborhood packages because it first opened its doorways in 1995.

It’s one of many companies collaborating within the expo and leaders mentioned the occasion is a solution to have a good time range and construct neighborhood.

“I believe there must be a motion and a seismic shift as a result of we’re not going to attend for an additional incident, ‘Oh, Asian People are attacked,’ so I believe it’s vital that we come collectively as one voice,” mentioned Dipanker Mukherjee, inventive director of Pangea World Theatre. “Additionally, it’s vital for us to know one another,” added Meena Natarajan, the theater’s government director. “That’s the opposite factor as Dipankar was speaking – we’ve got such a range of religion, of ethnicity, we come from totally different locations, we’ve got totally different experiences.”

The expo takes place Saturday from 9 a.m. to six p.m. It’s open to the general public. Tickets are $10 however free for college kids with an ID.

Guests can community, try the job truthful, the workshops and shows and extra.

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For extra data on the expo, click on right here.