Frank Jao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frank Jao (Vietnamese: Triệu Phát, Chinese: 赵阀, Mandarin Chinese: Zhao Fa, Cantonese Chinese: Chow Faat) is prominent Vietnamese-Chinese American or Hoa in Southern California. Jao was born in Haiphong, to a Vietnamese father and an ethnic Chinese mother in northern Vietnam but his family moved to Saigon when the country was divided into communist North Vietnam and "democratic" and capitalist South Vietnam in 1954.

After arriving in the first wave of refugee Jao is known for establishing the Vietnamese American enclave of Little Saigon in Orange County, California. He developed and currently owns the highly-popular Asian Garden Mall on Bolsa Avenue, which houses numerous Vietnamese shops. He served on the city council of Westminster, California. His company is Bridgecreek Development. He is a resident of Huntington Beach, California.

Jao gained controversy among some ethnic Vietnamese anti-communists when he conducted business deals with the communist government of Vietnam, using money earned from tenants' rents in Little Saigon.

He heads the Vietnam Education Foundation, which retains relationship between the United States and Vietnam. The Le-Jao Center opened at Coastline Community College in Westminster, California. It is named for both Jao and Chieu Le, the entrepreneur and owner of the major Lee's Sandwich chain in California.