Largest Asian American Business Conference in the United States Held in Washington, D.C.
CelebrAsian 2005 culminates 20th Anniversary milestone of US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC).
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) May 24, 2005 -- The US Pan Asian American Chamber of
Commerce (USPAACC) culminated its year-long 20th Anniversary celebration by
hosting the largest annual national Asian American business conference in the
United States and the only national conference designed for the Asian American
business community--CelebrAsian 2005: Diversity Means Business--on May, 4-6,
2005 in Washington, DC.
CelebrAsian 2005, which coincided with the
national observance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, was open to all
those who do business or would like to do business with Asian American
suppliers, importers/exporters in the Asia-Pacific region, Fortune 500
companies, the federal government and the minority business community. Over
1,000 participants attended the three-day conference that held sessions at the
U.S. Department of Commerce and at the main conference site, the Omni Shoreham
Hotel.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez was the keynote
speaker at the conference and U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao was the
featured speaker at the welcome reception.
Founded in August 1984 as a
non-profit organization, USPAACC has since become a stalwart voice for and a
strong supporter of the Asian American and minority business community. Today,
USPAACC continues to grow and serve the needs and interests of the Asian
American and minority entrepreneur with seven regional chapters
nationwide--Southern California, Northern California, New York, Texas, Illinois,
Georgia and the National Capital Area.
“We are proud to have reached an
important milestone as the vital conduit between the Asian American business
community and their business partners in corporate America, the federal
government, and the minority business community,” USPAACC National President and
CEO Susan Au Allen said. “We are strongly committed to our constituency and we
will continue to work hard to make all avenues become accessible to them, so
that they could successfully compete in today’s marketplace.”
USPAACC is
the leading Asian American organization that brings contract and procurement
opportunities to the table with corporate America and the federal government,
first-rate educational and diversity seminars, Procurement Connections, the
E-Portal for suppliers and buyers, third party certification, the Asian American
Suppliers Council (AASC), and the preeminent Asian American business conference,
CelebrAsian.
Through CelebrAsian, USPAACC has brought pioneering programs
such as Break Cultural Barriers to Succeed, Woman Pioneers Symposium,
Import/Export Series, Supplier Diversity Managers’ Summit, Franchising and the
renowned Guanxi* Opportunity Fair (*Guanxi is a commonly used Chinese business
term meaning “connections” or “relationship”) that features pre-scheduled
one-on-one meetings between suppliers and buyers--bringing added value to the
Asian American business community and their partners in corporate America, the
federal government, and the minority business community. In addition, USPAACC’s
Scholarships Program awards each year, over $100,000 in educational aid to some
of the most talented and hardworking Asian American youth. This year, 21
scholarships were awarded through private and corporate
donors.
CelebrAsian has also become synonymous with recognizing the
achievements of outstanding Asian Americans and the young talent of the Asian
American community through the black-tie event, The Excellence Awards and
Scholarships Dinner. This year, the Excellence Award recipients were: Adea
Solutions Chairman & CEO Abid Abedi (Excellence Award in Business);
BridgeCreek Goup Chairman & CEO Frank Jao (Excellence Award in Economic
Development); Landscape Architect & Urban Planner Jeff Lee (Excellence Award
in the Arts); and J-M Manufacturing Company President & CEO Walter Wang
(Excellence Award in Manufacturing).
Past recipients of the Excellence
Awards include Nobel Laureate Subrahmanian Chandrasekhar, U.S. Secretary of
Labor Elaine Chao, architecture icon I.M. Pei, Time Magazine Man of the Year Dr.
David Ho, Olympic Gold Medalist for figure-skating Kristi Yamaguchi, Linksys
founders Victor and Janie Tsao, Hotmail.com founder Sabeer Bhatia, and many more
outstanding Asian Americans. This year USPAACC marked this important milestone
with a special reunion of the recipients of the Excellence Awards in the past
two decades and the announcement of the 2005 Ten Most Influential Asian
Americans in Business.
The Corporation of the Year and Government Agency
of the Year awards were also given to Verizon and the U.S. Department of
Interior, respectively.
The corporate chairs for this year’s business
conference were Federal Express, Cendant, Verizon and Wells Fargo.
ABOUT
USPAACC: US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC) was formed in 1984
as a national, non-profit organization representing all Asian Americans and
Asian American-related groups in business. USPAACC promotes, nurtures and
propels economic growth by opening doors of contract, educational and
professional opportunities for Asian Americans and their business partners in
corporate America and government agencies. Headquartered in Washington, DC,
USPAACC has a nationwide reach through regional chapters in Southern California,
Northern California, New York, Texas, Illinois, Georgia and the National Capital
Area.
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Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb243895.htm