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Sunday, November 7, 2004

Asian influence growing in business community

By Valeria Whitney | News-Journal Business Writer

DAYTONA BEACH — When businessman Sam Patel arrived here from Tennessee years ago, he found the climate was favorable in more ways than one.

Patel, who was born in India, said, "I don't like the cold."

Then there were the business opportunities, Patel said during a recent visit to his new 76-unit Comfort Suites hotel.

The 47-year-old businessman now owns three motels and plans to develop a fourth in Port Orange.

"Business has been fair," he said.

More and more, those taking advantage of business opportunities in Volusia and Flagler counties are entrepreneurs who emigrated here from Asian countries, especially Western Asia. For them, the American dream has played out well in niche markets in the hospitality and service industries as well as in professions such as engineering and homebuilding firms.

George Mirabal, president of The Chamber, Daytona Beach/Halifax Area, said having a diverse business community is a plus for the area.

Generally, Mirabal said, entrepreneurs who immigrate to this country have a different perspective on business.

"They bring in a real upscale thought process and way of doing business, and that is pretty neat," he said.

Near the Interstate 95 and U.S. 92 interchange, the Comfort Suites was slated to open in July, but work was delayed because of the recent hurricanes. Instead, the first guest checked in during Biketoberfest. The grand opening is slated for later this month.

Patel's company, Monarch Hospitality LLC, also owns the Super 8 Speedway Motel on U.S. 92, west of I-95, and the beachside Ocean Inn, 101 N. Ocean Ave. His wife, Daxa Patel, is company president.

Armed with a degree in commerce, Patel migrated to the United States in the 1980s, first living in the San Francisco area and then traveling across country in his quest to find a spot to go into the hospitality business. "You go where the opportunities are," he said.

Today, he is one of more than 8,000 Asian-American owners of hotels in this country, according to the Asian-American Hotel Owners Association. Based in Atlanta, the association is one of the leading forces in the hospitality industry and one of the most powerful Asian-American advocacy groups. There are 468 members in Florida.

Nationally, the group's membership owns nearly 20,000 hotels, which have 1 million rooms representing more than 50 percent of the economy lodging properties and nearly 37 percent of all hotel properties in this country.

The 2000 census estimated 583 Asians live in Flagler County and 4,430 in Volusia County. These were people who identified themselves as "Asian alone" and not mixed with any other ethnicity. Overall, Indian-Americans account for only about 5 percent of the U.S. population. Many of the Indian-American hotel owners came to this country in the 1970s from South Africa, driven out by apartheid.

Mohan Bhoola, chief executive officer of Elite Hospitality, arrived here more than 25 years ago from Johannesburg where he owned a chain of bookstores.

While vacationing here Bhoola decided to buy the hotel where he was staying, said Manoj Bhoola, a nephew who thinks of him as a father.

In the last six months, Elite has bought five hotels in Northeast Florida, bringing its statewide total to about 20 properties with about 2,000 rooms.

"We are still growing locally," said Manoj Bhoola, who graduated from Wake Forest University in North Carolina and serves as president of Elite.

The company employs about 600 people. Its impact on the community, however, extends beyond that, according to the younger Bhoola.

"We use local contractors on the projects instead of national companies," he said.

Hotels built by the company include the Hilton Garden Inn at Daytona Beach International Airport as well as Hilton Garden Inns in Jacksonville and St. Augustine Beach.

Among the projects now under way is a boutique hotel in St. Augustine known as the Castillo Real, a Clarion Collection property. It is slated to open in January.

Manoj Bhoola said he thinks the lodging business appeals to Asians, especially those of Indian descent, because it is family-centered.

"How you approach your guest is the same way as how you approach your family and friends. It is natural for us. We have hospitality in our blood," he said.

Furthermore, he said, many Asians don't mind long hours required in running a hotel. Owning a hotel also provides immigrants with a place to live, while their children and other family members help run the business.

Elite recently withdrew its bids to build a second hotel at the airport here. Manoj Bhoola, who handles acquisitions for the firm, cited increased construction cost as the reason behind his decision.

The company, however, is always in the market for new properties, he said.

"Everyone is trading up," he said. In the next 10 years, he predicts, many Indian hotel owners who started with the economy properties will own properties bearing more upscale hotel brands such as Marriott and Hilton.

He also said Elite would like someday to open a full-service hotel that could accommodate large conventions.

The Bhoolas, meanwhile, are much interested in giving back to their adopted community. Elite underwrites hospitality scholarships at Bethune-Cookman College and Stetson University.

Bob Davis, president of the Hotel-Motel Association of Volusia County, said the Bhoolas are "definitely" players in the Halifax area market thanks to their growing property inventory. They also serve on the association's board.

"They rebuild old hotels and contribute a lot to the community," Davis said.

The area is also home to several other Asian motel owners who have acquired small properties and fixed them up. Some also have built new properties such as a new Super 8 Motel that is close to completion at Wilder and Ridgewood avenues.

Rick Frazer, executive director of Workforce Development for Volusia and Flagler counties, said his agency has recruited workers for Elite Hospitality. While many small Asian hotel owners are able to staff their properties with family members, Elite's growth required hiring from the outside, Frazer said.

Frazer also said he wouldn't be surprised if the company's philanthropic efforts didn't spur other local businesses to follow suit. "By doing that they are projecting a very positive image," he said.

The two-county area also is home to numerous eateries owned by Asians, especially Chinese. Many of the nail shops in the two-county area are owned and operated by Koreans, who have captured the lion's share of that market, not only here but in other communities across the country.

"This country is great. It gives a lot of opportunities to foreigners," said Maryam Hosseini Ghyabi, who arrived in Volusia County with her family in the late 1970s from Iran.

After earning degrees in civil and transportation engineering from the University of Central Florida, Ghyabi went to work first for a consulting firm. Then she took a job with county government before starting her own firm, Ghyabi & Associates, in the 1990s.

About nine months ago, she merged her business with another one in Jacksonville. The firm, which has offices in DeLand, Orlando and Jacksonville, is now GMAK.

Ghyabi is still president of the company, whose client base includes governments and businesses from Miami to Pensacola. They provide such services as analyzing traffic patterns and planning parking.

Her firm and others that operate outside of the county help give Volusia more of a regional presence, Ghyabi said.

"All of us do statewide business," she said. She, too, has adopted her new country and is active in community service organizations.

Ghyabi said it would have been difficult for her to achieve the same thing in Iran before she came here because colleges were closed following the revolution in Iran.

Meanwhile, Ghyabi's two brothers, developers Mori Hosseini and Michael Hosseini Kargar, also are very successful in their chosen fields.

Mori Hosseini is president of ICI Homes, one of the largest builders in the country. He builds everything from townhouses to production homes to luxury custom homes.

Besides Florida, his company builds in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

"ICI is a great partner in the community," said Frank Mercer, director of the Center for Business and Industry at Daytona Beach Community College.

Did You Know?

The first Asians to come to the western hemisphere were Chinese Filipinos who settled in Mexico.

Eventually, Filipino sailors were the first to settle in the United States about 1750 in what would later be Louisiana.

About 1840, to make up for the shortage of slaves from Africa, the British and Spanish brought over slaves or "coolies" from China, India and the Philippines to islands in the Caribbean, Peru, Ecuador and other countries in South America.

The first large-scale immigration of Asians into the United States didn't happen until 1848. Around that time gold was discovered in America. Lured by tales and dreams of making it rich on "Gold Mountain" (which became the Chinese nickname for California), The Gold Rush was one of the pull factors that led many Chinese to come to the United States.

SOURCE: Asian-Nation.org

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