"Aurora makes that possible"

K.C. Lee
Business owner, City of Aurora, Colorado
Vista Services

Interviewed and written by Lisa Gilman
June 2026

Mr. K.C. Lee was born in South Korea. Both of his parents were well-educated, and his father was a businessman. In 1982, his father decided to come to the United States to determine if it made sense for the family to emigrate. At the time, Mr. Lee’s mother had two sisters who lived in Colorado, and they offered to help their brother-in-law explore opportunities. In 1984, Mr. Lee, his mother, and his brother joined their father in Northglenn, Colorado, just north of Denver. Six months later, the family moved to the City of Aurora, and Mr. Lee “hasn’t left since!”

Mr. Lee was eleven years old when he arrived in Colorado. Because he didn’t know English, he was placed in 5th grade even though he would have been in the 6th grade in South Korea. As is common with young children, he learned English quickly and moved up to the appropriate grade by the end of the year.

Life in the United States was a “rough ride” for the family. As do many immigrants who don’t know English, Mr. Lee’s parents worked in janitorial services. They worked nights cleaning buildings when companies were closed. To ensure that their children obtained an excellent education, they lived in the Cherry Creek School District because of its reputation for being highly competitive.

Mr. Lee has fond memories of his childhood, though his days and nights were unusually full compared to the lives of many of his American-born friends. He and his elder brother went to school and excelled academically during the day. After school, they were active in sports. Mr. Lee played football, and his brother swam and played baseball. After their athletic activities, the brothers came home, did homework, and ate. After dinner, they typically went to where their mother worked cleaning office buildings and helped her late into the night. The next morning, they woke up early and did it all over again.

Though this challenging routine left little free time, Mr. Lee was nevertheless social. When asked what it was like being Korean in high school, he answered, “It was good! I had a good group of friends.” He knows that kids can be cruel, but he said that not “too many kids gave us a hard time” for being Asian. He had lots of friends who enjoyed sleepovers at his house, and some even joined him working at night. He enjoyed going to their homes and eating dinner with their families.

“There is a saying in Korean immigrant communities,” said Mr. Lee laughing, “whoever picks you up at the airport, whatever they do, that turns out to be your future career.” The uncle who picked the family up at the airport ran a commercial janitorial business, where Mr. Lee’s father first worked when he came to the United States. When he was in high school, his father got a job with a different immigrant owned janitorial company where he was a supervisor.

The year that Mr. Lee went to the University of Colorado, Boulder to study economics, his father launched his own janitorial company, Vista Services. His father was already an adult when he immigrated and never developed strong English language skills, so he relied heavily on Mr. Lee to help him with the business. As he did in high school, Mr. Lee focused on his education while simultaneously helping his family with their business. During the weekdays, he stayed on campus going to classes and doing homework. In the evenings, he did what he could to find clients for Vista Services. On the weekends, he went home and worked for the company, cleaning. On Sunday evenings, he’d return to campus.

The business was successful, and Mr. Lee continued to work with his dad after he graduated from college. As his father got older, Mr. Lee gradually took over. As the saying goes, his career is exactly that of the uncle who picked the family up at the airport!

Mr. Lee describes himself jokingly as the “black sheep” of the family. His brother and cousins (the offspring of the aunts who were already in Colorado) all went to prestigious universities, have gotten high levels of education, and work in high status jobs. He chose to stop his education after completing his bachelor’s degree; supporting his parents and continuing his father’s legacy as a successful businessman is certainly something to be proud of!

The family’s story fits into a familiar pattern for many immigrants, Mr. Lee emphasized. Parents come to the United States and are limited in what they can achieve because of language barriers. They typically do work that is physical and does not require English language skills. Many emphasize education and professional development for their children. As Mr. Lee stated, “They want to do well, so that their kids will do well. They want to make money so that they can provide for their families.”

When the family arrived in the 1980s, the population of the City of Aurora was diverse, but there were not many Koreans. Mr. Lee fondly remembers the two small Korean grocery stores. He laughed when he explained that the use by dates of many of the food products in the stores had expired, but they didn’t care because they were happy to be able to eat food from home.

The Korean community has since grown. A lot of Asians were attracted to the City of Aurora because of the quality of schools. As with Mr. Lee’s parents, the first generation focused on doing business while emphasizing education for their offspring so that “the kids can get good jobs” with salaries, benefits, and prestige, such as his brother and cousins. It’s the “parental sacrifice,” he says. As did Mr. Lee’s aunts who helped his family get established, Korean families who settled in the region helped their relatives who in turn welcomed others.

Mr. Lee explained that the Koreans who have arrived more recently tend to have money already and can start companies quickly because they have the necessary capital. They typically start companies that don’t require extensive language skills, such as liquor stores, small grocery stories, or dry-cleaning businesses. As they become successful, they often sell their companies to other Koreans while expanding to larger-scale businesses, such as hotels and companies in the service industry. In this way, Koreans who came earlier create a foundation and opportunities for those who come after them.

The City of Aurora now has a vibrant Korean community. A focal point are the numerous Korean churches that provide spaces for Koreans to gather once a week and be surrounded by other Koreans, speak their own language, and enjoy Korean food together. During the week, they are spread out, integrated into their various American lives. But on Sundays, he explained, they come together to be Korean for one day. There are now also various Korean associations in Aurora that offer additional places and opportunities for gathering.

Mr. Lee and his wife have two children, a source of great pride. As Mr. Lee’s parents did with him and his brother, they continue to emphasize the value of education. Mr. Lee’s children went to school in the Cherry Creek District, as did he. Their daughter, who recently turned 18, was active in high school. She participated in speech and debate and was the class president in her junior year and the student body president as a senior. She receivedthe prestigious Boettcher Foundation Scholarship, a legacy of Charles Boettcher who came to Colorado as a German immigrant in the 1800s and built a fortune through varied business pursuits. The Foundation’s mission is to “invest in people, programs, and organizations across the state to create a foundation for community building and transformational impact.” This scholarship encourages high achieving Colorado students to remain in the state for their studies to build the “potential of Coloradans.” Supported by the Boettcher Foundation, she just completed her first year at the University of Colorado, Boulder already excelling in pre-medicine. Their son who is 21, is starting a pharmaceutical doctorate program in the fall at the University of Colorado Medical School.

Their grandfather is proud and likes to say, “you guys made my suffering through my immigration process, all the work that I put into it, worthwhile.”

When Mr. Lee’s father first started Vista Services in 1991, the family had about $3,000 in the bank. At first, it was hard to find clients. During college, Mr. Lee did “lots of cold selling, leaving business cards.” It was slow, but eventually it paid off. As the company’s reputation grew, their clients, often large commercial companies, recommended them to others. Mr. Lee attributes the company’s success to being honest and having fair bidding prices along with always doing good work. Their oldest client has been with them for thirty years! And many of those on staff have been working for the company for twenty years.

The company currently has thirty-five employees. When they first started, most of their employees were other Koreans. This was when many Koreans were arriving to the area and needed work. Now, most of the employees are “Hispanic.” He recognizes that his employees are in the “same boat” as his family was when they arrived. They don’t speak English and need to do whatever work is available to provide for their families and secure their children’s futures.

For Mr. Lee, the City of Aurora has been a good place to live and do business. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic however, Mr. Lee had little direct involvement with the City of Aurora. During the pandemic, Aurora businesses were suffering, and churches were flailing. Doing what they could to support local businesses and residents, the city made a concerted effort to disseminate information to its diverse population. They published guidelines about COVID-19 and “vaccination locations, what not to do and what to do if you're infected,” along with information about loan opportunities and other available resources translated into numerous languages. He was impressed that the information was available in Korean-language newspapers and in Korean churches. The city translated this information into lots of languages, even ones that you might not expect, such as Nepalese.

When asked to reflect on living in Aurora, Mr. Lee said that he “loves Aurora.” It’s where he grew up and went to school. But, there is also crime and parts of the city aren’t “safe or profitable” for owners. Overall, though, he is pleased and grateful to Aurora for its attempts at getting the word out about opportunities and resources for small business owners. He explained that as a business owner, there are a lot of requirements—licenses and construction permits. There are grants available and programs to support women- and minority-owned businesses, and  Aurora invests in helping non-English speakers succeed. “Not all cities have that,” he emphasized. However, Mr. Lee feels that the city needs to continue to expand its outreach efforts because many immigrants are still not aware of all that it has to offer.

Despite Aurora’s initiatives, a lot of immigrant business owners are not aware of these resources. Before the pandemic and the outreach effort, Mr. Lee said that it would not have occurred to him to look to the city for them. If people don’t know what is available, they won’t get the full advantage.

Aurora depends on the revenue generated by taxes paid by immigrant business owners and residents. Although more and more immigrant families are leaving Aurora, including Mr. Lee’s, to live in the suburbs where the schools are better and life is safer, many keep their companies in Aurora because it is a hub for immigrant businesses. Mr. Lee noted that everyone still relies on Aurora as the place to buy groceries and dine out. “If you want Korean food, go to Aurora. If you want Indian food, go to Aurora. If you want Vietnamese Pho, go to Aurora!”

Mr. Lee described going to a Korean restaurant recently. He looked around and realized it was full of mostly people who were not Korean. “I love it here.” It made him happy that people seek out food from his home country. When he came in the 1980s, he said “I remember the first thing that kids would ask is, ‘do you eat raw fish?’ I'd answer, ‘yeah.’ They're like, ‘eww’!” But now, those friends are saying, ‘hey, K.C., let's go eat some sushi.’ It’s beautiful. I love it. Aurora makes that possible.”