70 Asian American Small Business Owners Convene at Amazon HQ2 to Strategize Trade and Supplier Diversity Pipeline

March 29, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONTACT

Emily Fuder: efuder@nationalace.org

70 Asian American Small Business Owners Convene at Amazon HQ2 to Strategize Trade and Supplier Diversity Pipeline

[March 22, Arlington, Virginia] National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE), alongside affiliate partner, Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC), hosted an AAPISTRONG Small Business Roundtable for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) small business owners to discuss the current state of business in the DC, Maryland, Virginia (DMV) tri-state area.

The AAPISTRONG Small Business Roundtable is an open forum for AAPI 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 DMV event is National ACE’s fourth roundtable this year.
With over 70 attendees, participants discussed the unique challenges facing the DMV’s residents and small business owners. The conversation explored visibility, MBE contracting opportunities, inaccessible permitting language, and access to capital.
Virginia State Delegate Kannan Srinivasan addressed attendees and discussed the crucial role that small businesses have in growing the economy “Small business is such an important wheel of the economy. What entrepreneurs do, the creativity and work they put in is so important. They are the job creators and drivers of economic growth.”

Steve Hartell, Vice President of Public Policy at Amazon, said, “Hearing everyone’s ideas and stories and learning about their small businesses has been energizing, and it speaks to the work that we’re leading at Amazon. For our HQ2, we were deliberate about selecting local small businesses, including women-owned, veteran-owned, and immigrant-owned small businesses to build up the area around HQ2. We’re also proud of the work that we do to empower diverse small businesses by offering tools to search for them, and we extend this offering to the federal government when it looks for diverse suppliers.” 
Ann Huynh, who owns S3i, Inc., shared her experience with accessing international markets as a small business owner. She talked about how difficult it is for small businesses to participate in international trade due to barriers of cost and staffing requirements. She proposed additional support from lending institutions to make international transactions simpler for small businesses.

Joining AAPI entrepreneurs at the event were Virginia State Senator Saddam Azlan Salim; Delegate Kannan Srinivasan; Delegate Adele McClure; Larry Webb, District Director, Washington Metropolitan Area District, SBA; and Sonya Bigelow-Smith, Director, Capital Readiness Program powered by MBDA and Operated by The Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council.

“Even when faced with barriers, from access to capital to capacity building, AAPI entrepreneurs have one of the highest rates of business ownership and employ over 5 million people, enriching their local neighborhoods and fostering an overall estimated buying power of $1.6 trillion," said National ACE President & CEO, Chiling Tong. "Our policymakers play a significant role in creating an environment in which our entrepreneurs and job creators can continue to thrive. We look forward to more conversations to understand the needs of our community and strengthen the resilient AAPI entrepreneurs across the country."

###

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 through 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 the Asian American Chamber of Commerce:

The mission of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) is to encourage, facilitate, and support the economic growth and sustainability of the greater Washington area community by building bridges and serving as a resource for the AAPI business community. AACC achieves this mission through business networking programs, summits, expos, business development workshops, seminars, and other special programs and events.