Panda Express’ CEOs are on a mission to help employees own a home

Panda Express is famous for its orange chicken. But the founders of the iconic fast-casual Asian chain also want to be known for something else: helping their workers realize the American dream. “I always believe that when you do well, you know, personally, then you can go out and take care of other people,” said Andrew Cherng, who is co-founder, co-chair and co-CEO of Panda Express along with his wife, Peggy Cherng. “You want people to do well,” he said. “And you want to treat them well.” Cherng measures progress in part by how many of his managers make $100,000 or more annually. He also tracks whether those managers can afford to buy homes, and he considers that a barometer of his own success. Yet over the past decade, that American dream of homeownership has slipped out of reach for millions of middle-class families. With low housing stock across the country, mortgage rates hovering at 6.8% and home prices in some cities at record levels, there is little relief in sight. Immigrant families are also less likely to own their homes than families headed by native-born U.S. residents, according to census data. Experts point to several factors that are likely to contribute to the disparity, including limited employment and income prospects, language barriers and inconsistent access to banks and financing. Peggy Cherng said the couple recognize elements of their own journeys in those of their employees. “Most of our associates are first-generation immigrants,” she said. Andrew was born in China and immigrated to the U.S. in 1966 after having grown up in Taiwan and Japan. Peggy was born in Myanmar and raised in Hong Kong. The couple met at the University of Missouri and opened their first Panda Express in 1983 in Glendale, California. At the time, they envisioned it as a casual offshoot of Panda Inn, the full-service Chinese restaurant Andrew opened with his father in the early 1970s. That immigrant experience remains central to how the couple run the business today, particularly a focus on investing in their employees, whom they consider their extended family. Today, Panda Express is America’s largest Asian restaurant chain, with more than 2,500 locations across 49 states and restaurants in 12 countries. The privately held company employs around 55,000 people and generates around $7 billion in annual sales, according to data compiled by market research firm Technomic. For Andrew, the foundation of that success is built from the ground up — starting with his employees. “How do we help these people to have a better life? That’s our mission,” he said in an interview at the company’s headquarters outside Los Angeles, part of NBC News’ “Business in America” initiative. Peggy said, “Our mission, our calling, is how we are able to help more associates realize their American dream, establish their business, their career, but most importantly, mark that accomplishment by owning a home.” And despite the long list of obstacles to first-time homeownership, Andrew wants to help his Panda Express employees focus on what is possible rather than what stands in their way. “We actually help everybody to think about owning a home very quickly,” he said. Many of the managers he hires initially seem to view the position as just another job, he said, not a potential career path. Managers “have to do a lot of things,” he said. “We teach them [those skills], but to have a good life, you turn that person from being sort of ‘task-based’ to ‘life-based.’” That transformation, according to Andrew, often instills a deeper sense of purpose in his employees — one that extends to caring for others and their communities. “We get people to see that quickly and see it clearly,” he said.