ELECTED officials, U.S. Bank representatives and many community members gathered on Wednesday, October 2 to announce the upcoming 20th Annual Asian Small Business Expo.
The Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (API SBP) is hosting the Expo, which will be held on Saturday, October 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California. U.S. Bank is the Title Sponsor of the Expo, being the key supporter along with over a dozen other sponsors of the Expo.
Edison Huang, owner of German Piano City, welcomed attendees to his store where the expo kick-off event was held on Wednesday. He thanked API SBP and its collaborative partner, Chinatown Service Center, for their business assistance services, helping his store to thrive for several years in Temple City.
Anthony Vazquez, Board of Equalization member for the 3rd District, was on hand to present a Commendation to API SBP in recognition of API SBP’s 20th annual event. A Certificate of Congressional Recognition was presented to API SBP by Cindy Lee, field representative for the Office of Congresswoman Judy Chu. A Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly was also presented by Abigail Marquez, a field representative.
“Our theme is about ‘sustaining your business in a strong economy.’ We have a lot of clients that are concerned about rising rents and spend more to keep staff so we want to provide business owners with information on how to access capital or marketing tips on how to grow their business,” Ron Fong, executive director of API SBP, said.
Jill McCullough, vice president of Corporate Responsibility/Community Relations Manager for U.S. Bank, noted her remarks that U.S. Bank was “honored to support the work of API SBP and proud to be the Title Sponsor of the Expo for 10 straight years.”
Vazquez expressed his support for small businesses as a Member of the Board of Equalization, and noted his effort to increase accessibility to BOE services for the constituents in his diverse district.
Now on its 20th year, the API SBP’s annual expo is a free event that promotes networking, business to business opportunities and workshops.
This year’s workshops include topics on accessing capital, marketing, loans and franchising. There will also be a Women Entrepreneurs Panel featuring Trisha Murakawa, Principal and Chief Problem Solver, Murakawa Communications; Patricia Perez, Co-founder, Pho Show and Co-founder & CEO, Genever Bar; and Lindy Huang Werges, Founder, Integritas Resources, Inc. and Co-founder, Zen Yoga Strap, Inc.
“We have a growing number of immigrants from Asia and this has heightened in California. There are a lot of people who are looking to learn how to start a new business here in the U.S., whether they’re originally from China, the Philippines or Korea. We’re able to provide counseling in-language and that’s a big advantage we can provide,” Fong added.
API SBP is a collaboration of: Chinatown Service Center, Koreatown Youth & Community Center, Little Tokyo Service Center CDC, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, Thai Community Development Center and United Cambodian Community.
For more information and to register, visit http://www.apisbp.org/expo.
