What a productive year we’ve had! Our plate was full with challenges and wins.
Yet we rolled up our sleeves, kept our nose to the grindstone, persevered as a team – and we came out stronger.
But we could not have done this without you. Our continued success is based on the strong and wonderful relationships we have built over the years. A million thanks to you – our friends, both old and new – for joining us on this amazing journey!
As the business landscape evolves and mounts a strong recovery, USPAACC remains committed to be the paragon of thought leadership. We will anticipate what is needed, innovate to improve, and motivate each other to be the best at what we do.
We’re excited for what 2023 has in store for us – substantive programs, new partnerships and more opportunities. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, here are the highlights of this wonderful year. I trust these will convey fond memories.
From the whole team at USPAACC, we send you warm wishes over the festive season and look forward to working together for a fruitful 2023. The best is yet to come!
Sincerely yours,
Susan Au Allen National President & CEO US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
Education Foundation (USPAACC)
USPAACC PROGRAMS
AND ACTIVITIES 2022
CELEBRASIAN BUSINESS + PROCUREMENT CONFERENCE
CELEBRASIAN BUSINESS + PROCUREMENT CONFERENCE
CelebrASIAN Business + Procurement Conference, USPAACC’s first in-person event in three years, was held May 25 – 27, 2022, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in the nation’s capital. CelebrASIAN had a full house — with over 400 attendees, 90 speakers and two-and-a-half days of substantive programming that ensure a more vibrant business environment, reflecting diversity, inclusion and equity.
CelebrASIAN is America’s largest and longest-running business development conference convened by Pan Asian American enterprises to connect with corporate America, government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, large nonprofits, diverse businesses and with each other.
Amazon and Google led conference sponsors as Title Chairs, joined by Ampcus, Nationwide, Pyramid, T-Mobile and Wells Fargo as Co-Chairs.
This year’s theme, SYNERGY FORWARD, speaks to the momentum created when people from different backgrounds come together for a common goal and to achieve great things. The Conference also put the spotlight on the achievements of Asian American businesses, made more meaningful as May was Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Among the highlights were the CPO Forum, Community Navigator Pilot Program panel, Procurement Opportunity Center program, panels on Doing Business with Corporations and Federal Agencies, Fast 50 Asian American Business Awards, 1-on-1 Business Matchmaking Meetings and the Excellence Awards Gala. SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman spoke at the Gala about further lending support to the small and diverse business community. For a summary of CelebrASIAN Conference, visit here and celebrasianconference.com
CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICERS (CPO) FORUM
The Chief Procurement Officers Forum gathered CPOs and procurement executives from across industries to share their thoughts and expertise on the supply chain disruptions, its outlook, and opportunities for small and diverse businesses, among other key topics.
We thank the hosts of our CPO Forum, Professor James Haddow and Dr. Denice Clarke Ware, as well as Kevin O’Brien, CPO of Nationwide and the Chair of USPAACC’s CPO Council and CPO Forum. Our speakers included CPOs/Sourcing and Procurement experts:
Barbara Kubicki, Wells Fargo
Miguel Gonzalez, DuPont
Kindle Goodson, TIAA
Mark Reed, Windstream
Wassel Lewis Jr., Aflac
SUPPLIER DIVERSITY CHAMPIONS
At CelebrASIAN 2022, USPAACC announced its “Supplier Diversity Champions” program that will officially open in January 2023 to acknowledge and celebrate the “unsung heroes” of supplier diversity. The program shifts away from awards solely based on a corporation’s ability to spend, and moves toward encouraging transparency, innovation, inclusion, impact, and integration in supplier diversity programs at varying levels of maturity. Learn more at https://supplierdiversitychampions.us/
WOMEN EMPOWERING WOMEN
The Women Empowering Women Forum, presented at CelebrASIAN 2022 and at the Innovation Symposium, gave voice to Asian American and Minority women in business to meet, develop skills, make connections, and grow together. These platforms inspired women who learned best practices from outstanding women pathfinders.
DOING BUSINESS WITH CORPORATIONS
Presented at CelebrASIAN 2022, Doing Business with Corporations had a strong turnout of 22 corporations that wanted to talk to Asian American and other diverse-owned small businesses about how to work with them. Corporations represented were: AT&T, Bristol Myers Squibb, Caesars Entertainment, Charter Communications, Compass Foodbuy, CVS Health, Edwards Lifesciences, Enterprise Holdings, Hilton, Kellogg’s, Logitech, McCormick & Company, Meta, MGM National Harbor, Nationwide, PepsiCo, Southern California Edison, Southern Company, T-Mobile, Trane Technologies, UPS, and Wells Fargo.
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
Since 1989, USPAACC has invested in the community’s future leaders by presenting academic scholarship awards to students from across the country. This year, 12 impressive and deserving high school seniors received scholarships as part of CelebrASIAN 2022’s Synergy & Scholarship Awards Luncheon. Thanks to 9 generous sponsors, USPAACC was able to award $50,000 in scholarships in 2022.
USPAACC’s College Scholarship Program that began in 1989 with a $1,000 scholarship award now gives $3,000 to $5,000 each to double-digit number of high school seniors who are in need. This is inadequate.
If you would like to give, please send a note to info@uspaacc.com
INNOVATION SYMPOSIUM
Diverse businesses across industries gathered and joined Fortune 1000 corporations, government agencies and large nonprofits at USPAACC’s inaugural Innovation Symposium held October 25 – 26, 2022 at The Bethesdan Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland to explore business opportunities and discuss cutting-edge ways to adapt and thrive in the post-pandemic marketplace.
One of the highlights of the symposium was the CIO & CTO Forum where top tech executives from Hilton, Monumental Sports, Nationwide, Trane Technologies, Virginia Tech and Wireless Infrastructure Association shared in-depth and substantive thoughts on the state of technology across industries, its outlook and opportunities for small and diverse businesses.
The panel also examined the critical cybersecurity role in successful digital transformation and took a look at what leaders need to be ready for the future, with a lens on the role of transformational leadership and technology.
Experts and executives from Apple, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mass Mutual and Meta also participated in other panels along with speakers from Ampcus, Mirapath, RCI Technologies, Softpath System, Southern California Edison, supplier.io, TalTeam, Uber, Virginia Tech, Walmart and more.
At the Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG) Caucus, participants discussed the role of evolving EBRG in building corporate culture – a timely roundtable on how forward-thinking companies leverage diversity, inclusion and equity to achieve robust growth.
At the “What’s Your Pitch” Innovation Competition, a program created by USPAACC in 2014 to discover new and exciting upstart innovators who could be the “next big thing” to disrupt the marketplace, winners were selected from a group of shortlisted finalists from across the country.
Women in Tech: Women Empowering Women, a forum that featured executive leaders and business owner panelists, delved into giving voice to Asian American women in business to meet, develop skills, make connections and grow together.
A luncheon, reception, dinner and exhibition were also held where participants had the opportunity to create meaningful business connections with industry leaders and top-caliber Pan Asian American enterprises through the exchange of innovative ideas, best practices and cutting-edge tools required to innovate their business.
Chetan Kandhari, CTO/CIO/CDO Council Chair and Nationwide Chief Innovation and Digital Officer, USPAACC Western Regional Chapter Board Member Porter Wong, USPAACC National leadership, and guests.
Chamber Leadership Alliance with Wells Fargo, Disability:IN, US Black Chambers, Inc., WeConnect International, USPAACC, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, US Small Business Administration
The two-day symposium kicked off with the Chamber Leadership Alliance training and discussion of business certification, the impact of supplier diversity and the value and collective power of all the national level organizations that represent today’s diverse and minority groups.
Speakers and participants included Wells Fargo, SBA, USHCC, USBC, WEConnect International, Disability:IN, NVBDC, NGLCC and USPAACC.
Chamber Leadership Alliance panel with Wells Fargo moderating and SBA joining to tell the genesis of Certification at the SBA. The panel also discussed the history of certification, when it began and where it is today with 9 established national certification agencies, each with its unique constituencies.
Thank you for being a part of USPAACC’s inaugural Innovation Symposium!
WEBINAR SERIES
USPAACC partnered with Google to provide essential digital training courses and invaluable tools to help small businesses adapt, grow and better serve the community. In 2022, we presented a total of 17 “Grow with Google” webinars on various business growth-focused topics and reached more than 94,688 viewers.
USPAACC’s 8-part Business Leadership Series, supported by Wells Fargo as legacy presenter, offered best practices and strategic technical assistance to help businesses achieve robust growth in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace. This year, we presented 2 webinars that reached more than 8,660 viewers.
Our LiveTALK webinars continued to provide valuable advice on repositioning business plans, available business opportunities with Fortune corporations and the federal government, short-term cash flow strategies, and more. In 2022, we presented 4 webinars that reached more than 2,074 views.
Business Express
Business Express is USPAACC’s annual executive coaching program, specifically created to help small and medium-sized Asian American and minority businesses take their business to the next level of growth. Led by long-time USPAACC partner, Tim Fulton, President of Small Business Matters, 7 learning sessions covered modules related to Strategic Planning for Growth & Talent Management.
USPAACC’s prestigious Fast 50 Asian American Business Award publicly recognizes, showcases, and celebrates the nation’s fastest-growing Asian American businesses. The USPAACC-sponsored competition is based on the percentage growth of annual revenue for Asian American businesses.
In 2022, the award focused on the top 50 businesses that were ranked. The winners were presented at CelebrASIAN Business + Procurement Conference 2022 in Washington, DC.
Winners of the 2022 Fast 50 Asian American Business Award earned $1.6 billion in collective revenue last year, composed of a very long list of industries, including IT, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, staffing, accounting, advertising and marketing, automotive, engineering, facility services, finance and insurance, food and beverage, healthcare, import and export, legal services, logistics, management consulting, real estate, telecommunications, and transportation.
USPAACC is now accepting nominations for the 2023 Fast 100 Asian American Business Awards.
Pyramid Consulting’s Namita Tirath and Sanjeev Tirath
Impress Technology’s Richard Fu
CERTIFICATION
Established in 1998, at the request of Fortune corporations that wished to meet Asian American businesses, USPAACC launched the Certification Program to educate, train and develop Pan Asian American entrepreneurs across the country.
Today, we have educated, developed and helped a generation of Pan Asian American entrepreneurs about the efficacy of getting certified and not to be shy about who they are – Asian Americans who are part of the minority community.
USPAACC is proud of its rigorous certification program that continues to carefully vet innovative and quality suppliers.
In 2022, USPAACC has certified over 75 bona fide and quality businesses, with over 200 enterprises in the certification pipeline. It has also assisted 15 qualified businesses with funding, from the Meta Invoice Fast Track Program.
For more information about getting USPAACC Certification, please visit here.
REFERRALS OF ASIAN AMERICAN BUSINESSES TO CORPORATIONS
In 2022, USPAACC has processed over 30 referral requests from major corporations and government agencies.
We referred over 90 small businesses, with varying opportunities – from IT services, utility sector services, disaster response, insurance brokerage, translation services, medical recording, HVAC and electrical, HR resource management, and business process outsourcing.
ALLYSHIP: SUPPORTING OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
One of the most important things in our diverse business community is allyship, unity, and genuine partnerships. USPAACC supports our peer organizations’ conferences and attend their events. Similarly, they do the same with USPAACC and we are appreciative.
USPAACC has been Chamber Leadership Alliance partners with United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) since the days it was called “Chamber Training Institute” together with the US Black Chambers Inc. and National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). We have stuck together for years because together, we’re stronger and a win for any of our constituents is a win for all of us.
WBENC CONFERENCE
USPAACC at WBENC! Peter Lee, CIGNA; Siofra Harnett, Google; Ravi Chander, Softpath System
USHCC CONFERENCE
With USHCC President Ramiro Cavazos and Sr. Manager, Corporate Relations Fernando Meersohn
USPAACC with the Wells Fargo team at USHCC’s National Conference
USPAACC Team at Southern California Edison’s partnership appreciation dinner
With NMSDC’s first Asian American President, Ying McGuire. Our relationship goes back over 20 years when she worked for Dell. Congratulations Ying!
NGLCC CONFERENCE
With NGLCC’s Sabrina Kent and Justin Nelson who said he adores our Susan Au Allen!
With MGM Resorts’ Autumn Spicer and Tony Gladney
NMSDC CONFERENCE
The USPAACC Team in our signature Purple! Red is our Brand!
Real people, real connections: VDart CEO Sidd Ahmed named Enterprise Holdings’ Dwayne Norris their Corporate Champion of the Year, and Dwayne gave USPAACC a shout-out in his remarks, about how he met VDart at CelebrASIAN 2022 in Bethesda, MD.
UNITY WEEK
USPAACC was one of the first founding members of the National Business Inclusion Consortium with NGLCC. From left, WIPP, NaVOBA, WeConnect International, NGLCC, WBENC, USPAACC, USBC, Disabiliy:IN, USHCC
USPAACC Public Affairs Specialist Alyn Hadar at the NBIC Best of the Best Dinner with NGLCC’s Justin Nelson
Truist’s Lissa Miller
Merck’s Raul Suarez-Rodriguez
MBDA MEDWeek
USPAACC National President & CEO Susan Au Allen spoke at MBDA’s 39th Annual Minority Enterprise Development Conference.
MBDA has been a long-time USPAACC partner, dating back to the Reagan Administration. The spirit of the MOU we signed over 20 years ago, and renewed three years ago, lives on. We are very appreciative of MBDA and especially its staff’s collaborative support during the last two-and-a-half years of virus-stricken living and working environment.
We are especially appreciative of the Federal Communications Commission’s selection of USPAACC National President & CEO Susan Au Allen as a Vice Chair of the Communications Equity and Diversity Council. The CEDC gives advice and recommendations to the FCC on important matters such as how $65 billion of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act should be spent to ensure America’s underserved and unserved business communities would sustain, grow and prosper.
SBA Women’s Business Summit
On March 29, 2022, USPAACC participated on the panel that focused on innovation and investment opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
The expert panelists addressed three questions: 1) How entrepreneurs should consider other forms of investment or lending and how to understand what’s the best option for them;
2) What are the specific barriers you hear about women and women of color in their experience in accessing capital; and
3) How can business owners prepare themselves to be investment-ready? For more about the virtual summit, click here: https://youtu.be/CVJWrSM2lfA
USHCC Legislative Conference
USPAACC Public Affairs Specialist Alyn Hadar was our ambassador at this special function, reconnecting on behalf of USPAACC with folks such as National Urban League President Marc Morial with whom USPAACC National President & CEO serves as leaders of 2 of the 8 National Tier 1 Community Navigator Pilot Program that Congress and the SBA look to in order to help small businesses hardest-hit by the pandemic.
USPAACC National President & CEO Susan Au Allen speaks at Hilton’s 2022 Supplier Diversity Summit
Susan shared the history of USPAACC’s certification program, and how it started with Ross Perot’s EDS for the 2000 Census, how AT&T/GM/PepsiCo helped to break through with more business opportunities and growth, to how it evolved to be today’s gold standard for Asian American and other minority-owned businesses. She also shared the signature programs that USPAACC has created through the years – 1-1 Business Matchmaking, CPO Forum, CIO/CTO/CDO Forum, “What's Your Pitch?” Innovation Competition, and more – that you can find next year at our annual national CelebrASIAN Business + Procurement Conference on June 6-8, 2023 at the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Save the Date!
The Western Chapter hosted a successful event in San Jose, CA; “To Certify or Not to Certify?”. The USPAACC Certification Program began in 1998 at the request of Corporations that wanted to do business with Asian Americans and when the U.S. Census was preparing for Census 2000. They approached us because they wanted to know who were Asian Americans, where they lived, what they did and where they worked. They came to the right place because USPAACC was the only national Pan Asian American business organization representing the interests and aspirations of the East, South and Southeast Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Today, USPAACC certifies Asian American- and other Minority-Owned businesses; US Citizens AND Legal Permanent Residents.
SHEroes recognizes female leadership in supplier diversity and women entrepreneurs during the Women’s Heritage month in March.
DiA (Diversity in Action) Dinner
The 6th Annual Diversity in Action (DiA) Awards Gala Dinner recognized, honored, and celebrated the many accomplishments of USPAACC’s corporate partners, Asian American businesses, and outstanding community leaders.
Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund Supports Southeast Chapter’s
New Entrepreneurship Event & Annual Business Summit
With support from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business fund, the USPAACC Southeast Chapter hosted two programs for entrepreneurs. In May, a workshop was held to help new entrepreneurs or people who would like to start their own business to navigate the do’s and don’ts. In August, the Annual Business Summit featured business owners from information technology, food industry, and WEB3 to share their experience in pivoting and succeeding in their business. The summit also discussed racial equity in business.
USPAACC Announces $180,000 Grant Award to
Asian Chamber of Commerce Houston (ACC)
In November, at the annual dinner of the Asian Chamber of Commerce Houston (ACC), USPAACC announced a CNPP grant of $180,000 to ACC. The grant will enable ACC to serve as a Spoke to the USPAACC CNPP Hub to help the underserved and unserved Asian American business community hardest-hit by the pandemic to get back on their feet, re-adjust, and adopt technology for a very different marketplace.
USPAACC Corporate Relations Executive Karin Hung presenting the CNPP award (top photo); and photo-op with (from left): Sachin Jain, BuzzClan; Karin Hung, USPAACC; Arcy Munoz, Wells Fargo; ACC Chairman Mary Wang; ACC Board Member Fan Chen; and ACC Community Director Paul Gor.
The program provides funding to nonprofits, state and local governments, universities, and tribal entities to partner with SBA, which is at the center of a hub and spoke network. The program works with trusted, culturally knowledgeable local groups and individuals to connect to the entrepreneurial community to provide assistance during economic recovery.
USPAACC CNPP held a Small Business Community Workshop in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX, June 6, 2022.
USPAACC Southeast Chapter and The Trusted Lawyers held a 6-session CNPP training workshop in HinduTemple for small business owners, with over 90 participants from the retail, restaurant, health care, and IT industries. Atlanta, Georgia, July 31, 2022.
Small-to-Midsize Business Growth & Success Summit
USPAACC CNPP’s NU Media and Universal Processing worked together to help small businesses aiming for robust growth. NU Media discussed marketing strategies that businesses could use to maximize media reach. Universal Processing talked about U serve POS&CDP credit Processing Program which brings efficiency and increased sales. This seminar offered multiple workshops presented by legal, marketing, and fin-tech specialists. New York, NY, August 4, 2022.
Storefront Vandalism Prevention Workshop
On August 12, 2022 in San Francisco’s Chinatown, BeChinatown gathered speakers from the San Francisco Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Building, Inspections and Office of Economic & Workforce Development. About 50 small businesses attended the workshop and local media covered the event.
USPAACC CNPP’s National Spoke Universal Processing meeting the USPAACC National and CNPP Hub team in Washington, DC. August 2022.
PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY CENTER (POC)
On May 27, 2022, USPAACC kicked off the inaugural Procurement Opportunity Center at the annual CelebrASIAN Synergy Forward Business + Procurement Conference in Washington, DC.
Two panels of 12 speakers included the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the Office of Information Technology Category in the General Service Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, the General Counsel of the Small Business Administration (SBA), and Small Business Specialist of the Department of the Army.
Participants took a deep dive into the current state of the federal procurement market and heard from senior federal contracts personnel about each level of the procurement life cycle. The panelists shared how their organizations plan to measure and advance equity in procurement, best practices and issues in the SBA’s 8(a) business development program, teaming arrangements, and category management.
Following the CelebrASIAN Business + Procurement Conference, USPAACC members requested more opportunities to interact with federal representatives who can advocate for them within their agencies. The federal policy push for unprecedented teaming has also instilled small businesses with the urgency to find partners. Based on these insights, POC held a Match-Working Studio (MWS) event on August 11, 2022.
The MWS panel speakers included the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, U.S. Department of the Air Force, and Thompson and Coburn LLP.
The speakers presented: 1) Their outlook for small businesses in FY23; 2) Small Business Innovation Research funding for innovative projects with military applicability; 3) Equity in federal procurement; and 4) Intellectual Property rights and working with foreign partners.
Small Disadvantaged Businesses met new prospective government clients and networked with colleagues to identify complementing capabilities, missions, and contracts. Altogether, 13 federal agencies and 50 small businesses met for 88 one-on-one government-to-business meetings. The whole event took less than four hours!
All told, USPAACC showcased some exciting capabilities and niche technologies among our Asian American members that were noticed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Education, and the U.S. Army.
New York Public Library
At the request of Thomas Yoseloff Business Center within the New York Public Library, USPAACC’s POC conducted a virtual event introducing USPAACC as a business resource to small businesses. Karin Hung in Corporate Relations presented an overview of USPAACC’s history, programs, member benefits and certification process.
On December 9, 2022, USPAACC’s POC recorded LiveTALK “Doing Business with the U.S. Army.” This event addressed the issue that Pan Asian American and first/second immigrant-owned small businesses are largely unaware that they could in fact do business with the U.S. Army, even if they do not have a facility clearance and/or cleared employees.
Another frequent perceived obstacle in doing IT-related business with the Army is FedRAMP certification (Who needs it and who does not? What use cases would justify this significant investment?).
There is also the question of foreign influence when doing business with the U.S. Army (i.e., what it is, isn’t, and when it applies), and if there are ways to mitigate that risk.
USPAACC Corporate Relations Executive Karin Hung hosted the event with guest speaker Pamela Callicutt.
MORE CONNECTIONS
Dinner with Uber CEO in July
Susan Au Allen in Southern California in November
USPAACC Southern California Spoke William Stephanie Foundation of Los Angeles, California.
With Roger Cheng of AT&T and local Asian American business owners in Irvine, California.
Susan Allen in Northern California
With Lily Lo of BeChinatown in San Francisco. BeChinatown is a USPAACC Spoke.
With Michael Chan, Chairman, Northeast Community Federal Credit Union, San Francisco, California. The credit union is a USPAACC CNPP Spoke.
With Mike Chop of Apple and Asian American business owners in Santa Clara, California, representing IT, engineering, cloud storage, and health care.
ADVOCACY, CORPORATE, AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
USPAACC continued its outreach to corporations for support of our many programs throughout the year. We also welcomed new corporate members to our growing roster: Cushman & Wakefield, Organon, Stanley Black & Decker, and PhRMA.
In government, we strengthened our working relationship with the Department of Commerce’s ITA and Commercial Services Departments, MBDA, and OSDBU Directors of 16 agencies.
To express our interests in and concern over different legislative, rule-making, and judicial developments in Congress and the Executive Branch, USPAACC:
Wrote about the Innovation and Choice Act to Members of Congress, Federal Trade Commission Commissioners, and Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Wrote in support of the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown to the U.S. Supreme Court and sent the letter to Members of the Judiciary Committee & Chairman Cardin.
Sent USPAACC representative to attend White House updates on legislative issues.
Wrote to the FTC Chair and Commissioners opposing FTC ruling against Meta.
Wrote to Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, about the Treasury’s decision not to include the Asian American/Pacific Island small-businesses as disadvantaged with regard to CDFIs.
USPAACC TEAM
YES! This is us – the indefatigable USPAACC team!
US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation (USPAACC), www.uspaacc.com, 1329 18th ST NW, Washington, DC 20036, United States, 202-296-5221
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