One day as Cincinnati-native LaVandez Jones left a church in Guangzhou, China, he spotted something disarmingly familiar: a guy sporting a Cincinnati Reds hat. After chatting a bit with the man and his wife, he learned that the couple who had been working in Asia for a few years originally hailed from none other than Cincinnati.
"These things happen," Jones says. "It really shouldn't be surprising. A lot of people forget just how global Cincinnati is and how much business the city is involved in."
While it comes as no surprise that local corporate giants like Procter & Gamble (P&G), GE Aviation, CFM International, Chiquita and Cintas have a big stake in China, there are also a large and growing number of smaller local ventures doing brisk business in the Mainland. Notable examples include GBBN Architects, whose China revenue was $3.7 million in 2009 and is predicted to reach an estimated $5 million in 2010, and Crown Plastics, who raked in $1.2 million in 2009 and is expecting $2.4 million for 2010, doubling revenue and tripling profitability.
"If you consider P&G, of course the numbers are huge," says Shau Zavon, President of the Greater Cincinnati Chinese Chamber of Commerce (GCCCC), an organization that has played a large part in this entrepreneurial bridge building.
"My guess is there are lots of companies out there who are not our members and who we do not know about yet that are doing business with China."
While most Cincinnati firms are concentrating their resources in the boomtowns dotting the east coast, a series of trips made by civic and business delegations to lesser known cities have put Cincinnati on the map in many corners of our massive international neighbor. In celebration of these budding relationships, the GCCCC held its fifth birthday bash on November 8 at the PNC Center, featuring a key note speech by Jim Rogers, Chairman, President and CEO of Duke Energy.
"We're doing this event to show how far we've come in five years and to elevate the profile of the Chinese Chamber," says event organizer Carla Walker, President and CEO of think BIG strategies who has organized delegations for local civic and business leaders traveling to China. "Unfortunately I haven't had much time to see the country yet because I was busy with official matters," she adds. "But I'd love to go back when I'm not working to spend some time exploring."
Free of the restraints of officialdom, a number of young, ambitious and adventuresome Cincinnatians have done just that.
"I did a short study abroad in Europe and it was clear that the center of gravity was moving east," says Jones, who originally came to China as a student in 2007 and now does product consulting for P&G at The Nielsen Company in Guangzhou. "There's an ebb and flow to this world and right now this is the place to be."
As China's economy hurtles along, more westerners are packing their bags and heading east than ever before. Their reasons for making this gutsy leap are varied, but one thing they seem to share is the desire to learn about life at warp speed and take risks they would be less likely to take at home. When asked how their experiences have changed their views of the world and themselves, not to mention their career paths, they often turn to superlatives.
"The economic outlook for China in the long term is phenomenal," says Derek James, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in finance this year. After punching the clock at a financial services company in Vancouver, where he moved with his girlfriend who was working towards a PhD in anthropology at Simon Fraser University, the couple grew tired of their respective situations and decided to bail. But instead of returning to Cincinnati, where they met as students, they opted for her hometown of Beijing where James is scouting options in finance and investment banking.
Although James has only just touched down, he already feels the shift.
"There is a huge difference between living in a suburban area in a developed country and living within a metropolis in a developing country," he says. "Daily life is much faster and more brutal Beijing."
Like James, fellow UC College of Business alum Mike Shane has also taken the plunge. Since arriving in 2007 with little more than a thirst for adventure, Shane's life has taken a shape he could have never imagined.
"The first time coming was an adventure and a test," Shane says. Coming as an intern, Shane immersed himself in language study and sought to get an insider's views of the "'third world country producing products for the US at a fraction of the cost' that we learned about in our freshman year introduction classes in college. Quickly I realized that not only were they wrong, but that this was a place brimming with a huge middle class. To me, that screamed opportunity," Shane recalled.
But things did not take off immediately for Shane. After helping a few friends launch an English training center in DeYang, a city in Sichuan Province, Shane unsuccessfully tried to start a basketball league for Chinese youth, an experience he learned greatly from. "When I moved to Chongqing, that's when things really started to happen."
The impetus, as is often the case, was networking. After meeting his Singaporean friend's uncle from Taiwan, who owned some properties in Chongqing, Shane pitched the idea to start a western style outdoor pub and restaurant on a busy thoroughfare in an entertainment district of downtown Chongqing.
"They loved it and eight months later I have enough cash to start my second restaurant in Chongqing," Shane says. "China is the fastest developing country in the world, Chongqing is the second fastest growing city in China and the area where I chose to build my second restaurant is the busiest and most affluent walking street in Chongqing."
"I wish my generation were more open to learning about what lies outside of the US and understanding that China isn't just that "third world country" we learned about in high school," Shane continues. "A lot of what lies ahead in the future is here."
Wherever one chooses to end up, the key as Jones sees it is motivation. "I love where I grew up. My family and my friends have shaped me, but so has China," he says. "If you figure out why you want to pursue your dreams and China aligns with that, then buy a plane ticket."
Photography of China provided Carla Walker
Photo of P&G headquarters by Scott Beseler
The Great Wall of China
P&G headquarters
Hangzhou Shaoxing
The streets of Shanghai
Hangzhou Shaoxing