What used to be a hair salon, and one of the United Cambodian Community\u2019s (UCC) small business clients, was recently transformed into a business incubator after years of planning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The newly formed Khmer Town Samaki Center plans to incorporate arts, collections (as in goods or physical items) and cultural activities, as well as function as a business incubator space. The space will help small business owners and entrepreneurs who are looking to start up a business but can\u2019t afford a full-time location.<\/p>\n
The Program Manager for the UCC\u2019s Economic Inclusion Department, Don Pin, said they initially didn\u2019t have space for the center, but after Sophie\u2019s Beauty Salon moved locations, they decided to purchase the property and start there first instead of waiting for a new center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to start and try to incorporate that \u2014 bring the culture in, but also support entrepreneurs, whoever that may be, that want to utilize the space and kind of provide [for] the underserved community that can\u2019t afford the brick and mortar,\u201d Pin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also plan to lease the space, whether a wall or a corner, for vendors or small business owners to operate inside of the Samaki Center either on an hourly, daily or monthly basis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Inside the United Cambodian Community\u2019s Khmer Town Samaki Center has art up on the left and right walls but is mostly empty as they build out the space. The corner space is one spot where, in the future, vendors can pay to operate in the center on a hourly, daily or monthly basis. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n
Pin said the maximum number of vendors the center can have at one time is three. Ideally, they want the vendors to operate in person so they can interact with the community and learn how it feels to own a brick and mortar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rent increase is pretty high right now, if they were to just try to lease a space \u2026 they can probably rent for the weekend for a few hours and instead of paying 1,000s of dollars on monthly rent,\u201d Pin said.<\/p>\n
Pin said the Samaki Center\u2019s public business incubator program will be limited and said they may have a cohort of five vendors training entrepreneurs on formalizing a business and navigating the process of selling inside a brick and mortar. He envisions that if a business completes the program, they will receive a free month of incubator space inside the Samaki Center towards the end of the incubator program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy jump into a space where you\u2019re gonna be in the negative already if you feel like your product isn\u2019t ready yet? Let\u2019s test it out here first and then we can continue \u2026 whether build on their success or maybe they can learn from their mistakes before they jump out here,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Samaki Center will also host book readings, open mics and anything that can shine a light on talented artists in Long Beach. They also plan on doing an art exhibition every quarter \u2014 four exhibitions per year \u2014 allowing artists to sell their work, with the center taking a small commission to keep the space open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The center will be hosting its second exhibition, titled, \u201cIdentity Through Life Experiences,\u201d from July 1 through Sept. 18 as artists explore the theme of identity through personal, cultural and relationship challenges.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cArt plays a big factor in creativity\u2026 in order to sustain themselves, to continue doing art, you have to earn some kind of money to do it and we want to recognize that,\u201d Pin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The overarching goal for the center is to become a place where visitors can learn more about Cambodian culture and locals can safely hang out.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they [community members] were to have a center where they can meet up, discuss ideas, read books and actually learn about new makers and small businesses out here that they can support, that could be great,\u201d Pin said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a place to learn stories but also it\u2019s a place for a community to come together.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Pin, this version of the Samaki Center is temporary, as they\u2019re still building out the temporary structure. They\u2019re also planning on building a larger permanent space in the next few years that has room to build things like a commercial kitchen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pin said they plan on opening the center to vendors in August on a semiweekly basis from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n To learn more about the Samaki Center, check out their Instagram<\/a> for more updates.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9321.jpeg\")
The United Cambodian Community (UCC) hosts its soft opening of the Khmer Town Samaki Center on March 22 at 11 a.m. UCC also hosted an art activation that featured two local vendors to show how the space can support small businesses. (Courtesy of Don Pin)<\/p>\n
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