Minority Small Business Owners in Charlotte Discuss Access to Capital and Knowledge for Business Transformation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2024
PRESS CONTACT
Emily Fuder: efuder@nationalace.org
Minority Small Business Owners in Charlotte Discuss Access to Capital and Knowledge for Business Transformation
[June 10, 2024, Charlotte, North Carolina] – The National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE), alongside affiliate partner, the Carolinas Asian American Chamber of Commerce, hosted an AAPISTRONG Small Business Roundtable for minority small business owners to discuss the current state of business in Charlotte.
These roundtables are an open forum for minority small business owners in the United States to connect with policymakers, corporate partners, and community members to find solutions for the barriers facing minority-owned small businesses today. The Charlotte event is National ACE’s ninth roundtable this year. With over 50 attendees, participants discussed the unique challenges facing Charlotte’s residents and small business owners.
The topics discussed ranged from access to capital to marketing strategies and intellectual property. Regarding access to capital, the entrepreneurs expressed struggling with getting funding from banks and through contracts. Bryan Tan, a commercial broker, said that he often has to go to community banks for funding, since historically, larger banks have had no interest. Due to the lack of a relationship between the community and certain financial institutions, Bryan even shared how he had to tap into the Florida market for capital after an incident shut down the commercial plaza his business was located in. Similarly, Billy Phillips of CoolVy Glass & Surface Solutions discussed the impact of inflation on business. Billy would like to learn more about government contracts, as the United States Government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world.
Education was also an important topic at the event. Kaiwen Cheng, the CEO of Queen City Robotics Alliance, shared how transformative it can be to start teaching vital skill sets to middle and high school students. Kaiwen’s mission is to help the youth gain skills such as fundraising, organizing, and product design to be competitive in today’s digital world. In her words, “you cannot grow without technology!”
In terms of North Carolina’s rural community, Frank Firdausi said, “We need to think about our rural community and share education and robotics with the rest of the state. Patents create significant capital, and I would like to see our state get involved with intellectual property.”
National ACE offers the Capital Readiness Program to further support small business owners seeking funding to grow their business. Through the Minority Business Development Agency, National ACE is providing one-on-one business coaching with little to no wait time for appointments. Clients can expect to get support with their financial documents, business plan, and applying for funding from certified lenders. “We have helped over 200 AAPI small businesses with our one on one coaching,” said National ACE Vice President of Programs and Marketing Emily Fuder. “And we are going to connect AAPI small businesses to over $14M in funding this year through our programs.” Business owners can learn more at https://www.nationalace.org/capital-readiness-program.
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About National ACE:
National ACE’s mission is to serve as a strong advocate of AAPI business interests and positive change on all issues that enhance and advance the goals and aspirations of AAPI business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate leaders. National ACE strives to do this by supporting and promoting issues that impact the AAPI business community, improving the economic development and economic impact of the AAPI community, advancing coalitions, enhancing community building, and fostering the next generation of AAPI entrepreneurs and executives. National ACE provides a unified voice for the business interests of AAPIs nationally. Learn more at www.nationalace.org or www.aapistrong.com.
About Carolinas Asian Chamber of Commerce:
Established in 1999, the Carolinas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce (CAACC) is a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization that fosters cooperation and interaction within the Asian communities and between the community at large in Charlotte and the Carolinas for the betterment of commerce, culture, and communication. We promote, sponsor, and support efforts to sustain our traditional heritages through excellence in business practice, education, volunteerism, and public service.
