Honoring the Ong Legacy

Our foundation.
It’s only March, but it’s already been a big year. Just this month, we celebrated our Welcome to the Warehouse event – an upscale open house block party that brought together family, friends, coworkers and business partners to celebrate something much bigger than us – the revitalization of downtown Phoenix’s Historic Warehouse District.

With all this momentum and change it’s important to have something that roots us, and luckily the warehouse’s rich history does just that. We’re fortunate that our new building comes with a foundation – not the physical one – that goes much deeper than expected. Let’s back up a bit.

The backstory.
It’s 1909. With help from his uncle and father, a teenager named Henry Ong leaves his home in China, bound for the United States on a steamliner in search of opportunity.

Henry went on to become the driving force that built the warehouse that we call home today, infusing it with his entrepreneurial ambition. He became a leader in the community and was one of the original founders of Arizona’s Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Ong’s family continues to carry on his legacy. Today, many of his grandchildren and great grandchildren are successful valley professionals.

Hear more of his story by watching our video interview with his 92-year-old son.

A promising future.
Today, we’re proud to pay tribute to Henry Ong in our front lobby with a collection of framed photographs, historical documents and artifacts. (We’ve also dubbed one of our upstairs conference rooms “The Henry.”) Even with so much energy propelling us forward, we’re humbled – grounded by the storied heritage that connects us to Phoenix’s past.

Henry Ong left a mark on this city that’s worth celebrating today. That’s something that fuels us as we strive to leave a legacy of our own in Phoenix.