????靠著儲蓄金和美國聯邦小企業署的貸款湊起來的6萬美元以及自家親戚們的免費勞動，現年65歲的程正昌和62歲的蔣佩琪這對夫婦在1973年開辦了他們自己的第一家中餐廳。如今，熊貓餐飲集團（Panda Restaurant Group）已經成為美國亞洲休閑快餐業的領軍企業，2012年的營收超過17億美元。這家總部位于加利福尼亞羅斯米德市的集團公司旗下管理著1,500多家熊貓快餐廳（Panda Express）、聚豐園餐廳（Panda Inn）和Hibachi-San日本料理餐廳，遍布全美42個州以及墨西哥首都墨西哥城。今年是熊貓餐飲集團成立40周年。這對夫妻檔CEO分享了他們的創業故事：

????程正昌：二戰開始之后的第二年，我出生在中國的揚州。5歲時，我們舉家逃往臺灣，8年之后，又移居日本。

????蔣佩琪：我出生在緬甸，后來隨著全家定居香港并在那里長大。之后到美國讀大學，在堪薩斯州鮑德溫的貝克大學（Baker University）學習時遇到了程正昌。

????程：我們后來又一起去了密蘇里大學（the University of Missouri），我在那兒攻讀應用數學碩士。佩琪比我多上了幾年，拿到了電子工程學博士學位。當時我在紐約上班，每個節假日去餐廳吃飯都要排隊等座。我父親本身就是廚師但卻一直未能擁有自己的餐廳。我不想那樣，從內心來說，我知道我想要擁有自己的事業。

????蔣：我倒是從未想過做生意，我所受到訓練是要投身科學事業。

????程：我有個表兄正好在好萊塢租了個叫Ting Ho的餐廳，但他又不會講英語，所以就來找我幫忙。這對我來說簡直是個天上掉餡餅的好事兒。1972年，我搬到了加州。在他的餐廳，我每周工作7天，月薪800美元。過了幾個月，我們倆在工作上出現了一些分歧。當時帕薩迪納市正好有一間餐廳要出租，于是我父親和我就從我那位表兄那兒借了些錢，又向聯邦小企業署借了一筆貸款，就這么一共湊了6萬美元把那間餐廳盤了下來。1973年6月8號，聚豐園餐廳正式開張。我們全家，包括我父母、一個哥哥和一個妹妹，全都在餐廳里免費做事。當時，我們身上所剩無幾，全家人就擠在圣蓋博市的一間兩居室的公寓里。佩琪常常來看我們。我們在1975年結婚。

????蔣：我們第三個孩子出生前，我一直在麥道公司（McDonnell Douglas）和3M公司的工程部門工作。

????程：我父親1981年去世，我很自然地擔起了餐廳管理者的責任。我是個非常有干勁的人，喜歡成就感。1982年，我們在格蘭代爾市開出了第二家聚豐園餐廳。

????蔣：我就是在那時加入了家族生意。

????程：我通過人脈結識了唐納修家族。特里?唐納修是加州大學洛杉磯分校（UCLA）橄欖球隊的總教練，而他的弟弟則是幽谷拱廊商場（the Glendale Galleria）的開發商。他們邀請我在商場里開一家熊貓快餐廳。我記得那是1983年10月的事兒，而這第一家熊貓快餐廳經營得不錯。因此，我又開出了更多的餐廳。1985年那一年，熊貓快餐廳的門店數就從5家增長到了9家。

????蔣：當時的機會很好。前十年，我們都是在商場里開店。

????Andrew and Peggy Cherng, now 65 and 62, respectively, opened their first Chinese restaurant in 1973 with $60,000 from savings and a Small Business Administration loan, plus relatives who worked for free. Today Panda Restaurant Group is the nation's leader in Asian fast-casual eateries, exceeding $1.7 billion in revenue in 2012. Their Rosemead, Calif., company now manages a total of 1,500 Panda Express, Panda Inn, and Hibachi-San restaurants in 42 states and Mexico City, and it is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The co-CEOs' story:

????Andrew Cherng: I was born in Yangzhou, China, two years after World War II started. I was 5 when my family escaped to Taiwan. Eight years later, we moved to Japan.

????Peggy Cherng: I was born in Burma, and my family went to Hong Kong, where I grew up. I came to the United States for college and met Andrew at Baker University in Baldwin, Kans.

????Andrew: We went on to the University of Missouri, where I got a master's degree in applied mathematics. Peggy stayed a couple of years longer to get her Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Every holiday I had, I worked in New York, waiting tables in a restaurant. My father was a chef but hadn't owned his own business. I didn't like that. In my heart of hearts, I knew I wanted to be in business.

????Peggy: I never thought about going into business. I was trained to be in the sciences.

????Andrew: It's just dumb luck that my cousin leased a restaurant in Hollywood called Ting Ho. He didn't speak English and turned to me for help. So in 1972 I moved to California and worked seven days a week in the restaurant, getting paid $800 a month. After a few months, we had some work disagreements and I found a restaurant in Pasadena to take over. My dad and I borrowed some money from that same cousin and got an SBA loan, scraping together $60,000. We opened Panda Inn on June 8, 1973. The whole family -- my parents, a brother and sister -- all worked at the restaurant for free. We lived in a two-bedroom apartment in San Gabriel and didn't have any money. Peggy would come to visit, and we got married in 1975.

????Peggy: I worked in engineering for McDonnell Douglas and Comtal/3M until our third child was born.

????Andrew: My dad passed away in 1981. I was very comfortable taking charge. I'm a driven person and I like to accomplish things. In 1982 we opened another Panda Inn in Glendale.

????Peggy: That's when I joined the family business.

????Andrew: Through my connections, I met the Donahue family. Terry Donahue was the head football coach for UCLA, and his brother Dan was the developer for the Glendale Galleria. They invited me to open a Panda Express in the mall. It was October 1983, and the first Panda Express worked out okay. So I opened more restaurants. In 1985 we went from five to nine stores in one year.

????Peggy: It was opportunity driven. In the first 10 years, we were mall-based stores.