Building trans-Pacific ties - C.T. Hsu and Associates - Company Profile

It was not a difficult decision for C.T. Hsu when he decided to go into business for himself in Orlando, Fla., 11 years ago. The Taiwanese-born architect had grown restless with his job at the Orlando office of an Iowa-based architecture firm.

Hsu, who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, sensed the potential for niche opportunities in Central Florida. Its expanding tourism, service, and technology industries and its continuous population growth, he thought, would require the design and construction of facilities such as schools and restaurants. Based on that bet, he founded his own architecture firm, C.T. Hsu and Associates.

These days, potential clients don't respond, "C.T. Who?" anymore when they hear his name (it's pronounced shoo). He has won a reputation as an innovator and as a bridge between his adopted country and opportunities in Asia. His company has grown to 24 employees, and he expects revenue of $3.5 million this year, up from $2.8 million in 1994.

His first contract, in 1984, was a $2,000 grocery store renovation. "I was happy to get it and would bid on anything that seemed viable," he says. Other early jobs included remodeling medical clinics and designing modest shopping centers. Hsu worked out of his home, and he says strong moral support from his wife, Jin Hsia (pronounced jin sha; she goes by Jean), helped sustain him. The long hours eventually paid off when he won his first major contract, a six-figure bid to design the Ran-Getsu, now considered the premier Japanese restaurant in Orlando.

Hsu was introduced to the proposed restaurant's developers by Japanese businessmen visiting Orlando. They were impressed by the architect's work but pointed out their concern about his willingness to work "on Tokyo time"--14 hours ahead of Eastern time. Hsu had his first Orlando meeting with the would-be clients at 10:30 p.m., proving he could cope with the time difference.

The restaurant, featuring pagoda ornamentation, became the showcase Hsu needed. Two other prestigious restaurant projects in Orlando soon followed: China Court and Caruso's Palace.

Although Central Florida continued to boom in the mid-1980s, Hsu persuaded local governments to save money by retrofitting schools, civic pavilions, and libraries rather than building from scratch. It was an attitude that won him respect when the economy slowed down in the early '90s. Soon, Hsu counted some of Florida's major tourist attractions as clients, including Disney-MGM, Universal Studios, and Splendid China, a partly Chinese-owned theme park that he designed in Kissimmee.

Hsu's experience with the developers of the Ran-Getsu taught him early the value not only of doing business with Asia but also of networking with Asian Americans in his own community. The Chinese, he says, "call it guanxi, meaning 'to build contacts.' The process is generation to generation."

As a result of such networking and an aggressive international campaign, Hsu's company has won tourism-related projects and restaurant contracts not only in Italy and Brazil but also in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. And last spring, the architect was chosen to accompany Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood on a trade mission to Beijing.

Hsu believes his Orlando location is fundamental to his firm's future growth. He calls it a "Silicon Valley" of technology essential to the burgeoning theme-park industry, such as lasers, simulation, and virtual reality.

Reflecting on the fiercely competitive nature of architecture, he says, "You have to keep just slightly ahead of trends in order to keep earning business."

Julian M. Weiss is a freelance writer in Greenbelt, Md.

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