Frank Jao

Frank Jao (born June 1949) is a Vietnamese American businessman, philanthropist, and educational consultant. In 1978, Jao founded the Bridgecreek Development Company, a commercial real estate firm responsible for developing about half of Little Saigon, Orange County, including Asian Garden Mall. As a philanthropist, Jao is involved in funding various universities and colleges such as University of California, Irvine and Coastline College. From 2005 to 2006, Jao was appointed by President Bush as chairman of the Vietnam Education Foundation.

Early life In June 1949, Jao, an ethnic Chinese with a Vietnamese mother, was born in Haiphong, Vietnam as the seventh eldest of eleven children. After Northern Vietnam was taken over by communist forces in 1954, Jao's family moved to Da Nang. Later, he worked as an interpreter for Marines in Da Nang

Emigration to the US In late April 1975, while a salesman for General Electric in Saigon, a US embassy employee told Jao to go to the airport, leaving on a C-130 transport plane on April 28, 1975. He feared for his safety since he worked for American firms and previously had been a translator for USAID. on finance, real estate, and construction. including at least seven shopping centers on Bolsa Ave. Jao's properties are owned by a network of partners including Roger Chen, owner of 99 Ranch Market. As of 1997, the firm had 18 employees.

History In 1976, while traveling to Chinatown, Los Angeles, Jao saw a need for a Little Saigon since many shoppers had no closer place to shop for Asian goods. Businessman Harry Wu convinced Jao to round up investors to purchase inexpensive Westminster property to cater to the Vietnamese who had been traveling to Chinatown.

In 1979, Jao bought a retail center on Bolsa Ave, the Far East Plaza, with financing from an Indonesia-based Chinese investor, ultimately becoming a success. Jao and Roger Chen partnered to develop a shopping center by converting an 100,000-sq-ft industrial park, opening the first 99 Ranch Market in 1985.

In 1993, Jao traveled every month to Guangdong, China, negotiating with a development team to build a mixed commercial and residential complex.

Harmony Bridge In December 1995, a group of seven property owners including Jao proposed a $4-million pedestrian bridge linking Asian Garden Mall and Asian Village. The 30-feet-wide and 500-feet-long bridge was planned to be designed with dragons, a pagoda canopy, and emblazoned with the message "Welcome to Little Saigon." The bridge, now named "Harmony", was subject to criticism when the design was made public in April. Critics argued that elements of the bridge's pagoda roof such as being green instead of red or its curvature were influenced by Chinese rather than Vietnamese culture. Ultimately, in July, Jao withdrew his proposal for the bridge.

Philanthropy Jao was the founding donor of the Harvard Kennedy School, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation's Harvard Global Vietnam Wars Studies Program. On December 19, 2005, Jao and his wife made a $1 million donation to Coastline College in partnership with a foundation established by Chieu and Yen Le, founders of Lee's Sandwiches. The new Westminster Learning Center was named in Jao and Le's honor, being named the Le-Jao Center.

Jao Foundation Jao Foundation was formed with the intent of preserving Asian American history and culture. he lived in Huntington Beach after moving from Westminster. In 2024, Jao was inducted in Orange County's Hall of Fame for local residents. He has also been named in the Orange County Business Journal "Orange County's 50 Most Influential Business People" in 1999 and the Los Angeles Timess "100 Most Influential People in Southern California" in 2006.