Ryan Winkle, former Mesa City Council member and co-founder of RAILMesa, is working with the Arizona Asian Chamber of Commerce to develop and brand the Asian business district around the light rail in Mesa.
"They'll be partnering to kind-of-ground-roots in the Asian district and start forming their own identity more than before," Winkle told The Republic. "We've been working on it for years with people who love the area."
With the closing of the Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix last year, many see the Asian business district in Mesa as a natural successor to become a hub for Asian-Americans in the Valley.
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Ryan Winkle has an extraordinary influence on people. It usually starts with a smile and a strong abrazo from a multi-cultural guy who can speak fluently in more than three languages. Happily married with two children and a stunning wife, he embraces diversity as both a social activist and a social engineer with a Master's Degree in Urban Planning always open to new opportunities that can who help individuals, families, and businesses succeed.
Winkle also works closely with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
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Here's the most recent update on what he is doing:
Asian-owned businesses are flourishing in the East Valley.
Here's how they got there
by Lorraine Longhi | Published 8:36 a.m. MT May 30, 2019
"With the Cultural Center, it was almost like someone built a place and said, 'Put Asian stores here,'" Winkle said. "No one was asking the Asian business people where they wanted to locate.
"With Mesa, no one told them, 'There's a great place, go there.'" he said. "They just did."
READ MORE > https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/
