Hundreds of professionals, business owners and community leaders gathered on Tuesday, Oct. 6 for the Asian Business Association’s (ABA) 39th Annual Awards Banquet.
Held at the Globe Theater at Universal Studios Hollywood, the evening recognized five individuals and businesses that have contributed to the growth of the Asian business community in Los Angeles and beyond.
“We selected these individuals and organizations because of their business success and their contributions to our economy,” Dennis J. Huang, executive director and CEO of the ABA, said.
In his opening remarks, Huang noted that in the past five years, Asian-owned firms in the United States have grown from 1.2 million to 2 million — 600,000 of which are located in California.
With more than 700 members, the ABA promotes economic development by hosting a series of conferences, seminars and workshops throughout the year. In the past 10 months alone, the organization has held events focusing on trade trends, the art of negotiating, women business pioneers, the dynamic development of Downtown Los Angeles and more.
“We do these programs with the sole purpose of providing our members with access, advocacy and engagement. We have value-added programs to help them develop their contacts and gain a better business perspective,” Huang said.
The night kicked off by recognizing the event sponsors, including Toyota, Union Bank, Southern California Edison and US Bank, among others. Actor/writer/producer Mei Melancon and actor James Kyson served as the emcees, while musician Paul Dateh entertained the crowd with his hip hop-inspired violin arrangements.
Korean-owned company CJ America, Inc. took the Business Enterprise of the Year award for its diversified operations in food service, bio & pharma, homeshopping & logistics and entertainment & media.
“I know firsthand how much work growing a company can be. It takes not only hard work and dedication, but also business savv[iness] to get to where CJ America is today,” said Toni Ko, founder of NYX Cosmetics and Butter Ventures, LLC, who was one of the award presenters.
Among CJ America’s ventures are Korean food brand Bibigo, bakery TOUS les JOURS, cultureplex CGV theaters and KCON, the largest Hallyu convention in North America that drew in 50,000 attendees this year.
“I believe there are many other Asian companies worthy of this award as well, so I want to take this as an encouragement for our company to strive to do better…This brand allows us to enhance cultural diversity in America. I want to thank CJ employees for their passion and hard work — without them, it would not be possible for us to achieve our vision,” the company’s CEO Choi Joon-hwan said.
New media production company Wong Fu Productions — founded by Wesley Chan, Ted Fu and Philip Wang — was named Media Company of the Year.
“It’s a little easier to tell my family [and] friends that we make videos online and it doesn’t sound as shady anymore. To be in a room with professionals, we make YouTube videos and that means something now,” Chan said, joking that even though he didn’t go to business school, he got a business award.
Since meeting in college 10 years ago, their following has grown to over 2 million subscribers and 300 million views globally. In addition to growing their base on YouTube, Wong Fu also attracts major corporations like Subaru, AT&T and Wells Fargo to produce high-quality videos.
“There aren’t that many Asians out there in entertainment or in mainstream media, so that’s what we’re all about — we have a role and influence on the new generation. It’s crazy that kids are now growing up with two Asian families on TV, an NBA star that’s an Asian American and unlimited time to watch Asian American faces on YouTube. It’s a great time,” Wang said.
Los Angeles’ first Korean American council member (and only the second Asian American), David E. Ryu, received the ABA Chairperson Award. Ryu, who was elected to represent the city’s 4th council district — covering areas such as Sherman Oaks, Toluca Lake, Hollywood, Los Feliz, in July, began his speech by sharing his immigrant story and how he got into local politics.
“When my parents came, it wasn’t streets paved with gold. It was really, really hard. I couldn’t remember the time when my parents weren’t working two jobs. My parents were well-educated; they went to the Harvard and Yale of Korea, but when they came here, that didn’t matter,” Ryu narrated, adding that his mother, a nurse, and his father, a teacher, had to take whatever jobs they could get.
Though he didn’t grow up well-off, Ryu said his parents emphasized the importance of education, which motivated him to attend the best public schools and then UCLA for college, where he started off as pre-med.
“[My parents] wanted me to be a doctor, not to be rich and famous, but they knew that no matter where you go in the world, if you can’t speak the language or understand the culture, you will always need a doctor. They wanted to make sure that I could myself and my family,” Ryu said.
However, three years into undergrad, Ryu realized he couldn’t be a doctor but still wanted to help people, so he told his parents he was going to be a social worker.
“Growing up, I never thought I was poor and I always wanted to help people,” he added.
After college, he worked for a series of advocacy non-profits, the United Nations and Los Angeles County, where he was exposed to issues like public health, housing and transportation.
“My story is not my story. [It] isn’t the Korean American…It’s the American story. It’s very important that we share our experiences…because from diversity, from differences, we become stronger,” he concluded.
US Bank — the nation’s fifth largest bank — was recognized as Corporation of the Year for its work in community investment, grants and corporate contributions (a total of $286 million in 2014) and supplier diversity.
“I also look at [this] award as a reminder of what we must do tomorrow, what we must do the next day to create a healthy society [so] the private sector can sit at the same table as the non-profit sector, as politicians and academics because those four together can [help] society,” US Bank Senior Vice President Darrell Brown said.
Receiving the last award for Advocate of the Year was Richard Chacon, director of supplier diversity and development at Union Bank.
“We do this for a passion and love for what we’re doing. We can make a difference in our community. In terms of the Asian community, I’m happy to say that almost half of our minority spend is with Asian companies,” Chacon said.
To end the night, a few lucky attendees won raffle items, such as a Vizio television, Herman Miller chair, and roundtrip plane ticket.
“This night has been a testament to the tireless work and effort that goes into supporting our community and small business owners,” Melancon said.
