Seattle Roundtable Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2022
ASIAN AMERICAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS MEET WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN SEATTLE TO DISCUSS THE STATE AND FUTURE OF AAPI BUSINESSES
[May 3, Seattle, Washington] – The National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE), alongside affiliate partners, the International Leadership Foundation (ILF) Seattle Chapter, Filipino Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest (FCCPNW), Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and the Seattle Chong Wa Benevolent Association, hosted an AAPISTRONG Small Business Roundtable for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) small business owners to discuss the current state of business in Seattle.
The AAPISTRONG Small Business Roundtable is an open forum for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 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 Seattle event is National ACE’s eighth roundtable this year.
Seattle’s small business owners raised the issue of supply chain disruptions to Sam Cho, Port of Seattle Commissioner. Alicia Gilson, a small business owner, voiced that “Covid has affected logistics - like lack of manpower - because drivers, warehouse workers got sick. Transportation costs have risen about more than 200 percent. Before Covid, a shipment from China to Seattle only cost $3,000. But with the pandemic, it became $25,000. The vessels are not moving. Once the container is unloaded from the vessel, the terminal delays taking out the container.”
Participants mentioned the need for responsiveness from government leaders and transparency in grant assistance. Jin Lee Jung said, “I felt my requests have been consistently ignored, denied, for no good reason. Ranging from a simple email to phone call, I constantly encounter difficulties that someone else might never think about. I have to ask someone else with a different name to reach out for my request. If you are here to help, I hope you can follow through and actually provide assistance or a simple response.” In regards to transparency, small business owners stressed the importance of informing applicants why they were rejected from a funding opportunity, as this helps alleviate the anxieties of entrepreneurs.
Alongside these topics, participants discussed ensuring capital reaches minority communities beyond political promises. Paul Wu, a small business owner, urged officials to grant permission to construct parking spaces in Chinatown, as a result of a shortage affecting their businesses. Lastly, Tony Ogilvie of the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest provided a moving remembrance of the AAPI businesses that did not survive the pandemic in an urgent call to action for officials: “For small Filipino businesses, usually they are underpaying their staff, who are their own relatives. I’m hoping that many of you from the system take back that there is a different culture and situational context for our businesses that didn’t survive the pandemic. This is the reality we have to face. We are here because we are survivors. But what about those that didn’t survive?”
Joining AAPI entrepreneurs at the event were Michael Fong, Regional Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration; Markham McIntyre, Director of Office of Economic Development of Seattle City; Lynne Robinson, City of Bellevue Mayor; Knight Sor, Senior Conciliation Specialist, Department of Justice; Scott Lindsay, Seattle City Deputy Attorney; Sofia Aragon, Mayor of Burien; Mia Gregerson, Washington House of Representatives; James Bush, King County Executive Office Representative; Captain Steve Strand, Seattle Police Department; Jeremy Mohn, Chief of Staff of Councilmember Sarah Nelson; Taemin Um, Legislative Assistant of Councilmember Sarah Nelson; Dr. Shouan Pan, Seattle College Chancellor; Isabelle Du Wulf, Managing Director, Small Business Export Assistance Division, Washington State Department of Commerce; Roby Schapira, Senior Vice President & Business Growth Strategy Director, Small Business Diverse Customer Segments, Wells Fargo Bank; and Chris Galang, Senior Vice President & Chief Strategist, Small Business Diverse Customer Segments, Wells Fargo Bank.
“Our business community continues to face many challenges. Asian American and Pacific Islander small business owners have battled both Covid-19 and a sharp spike in discrimination and violence. Our policymakers play a significant role in protecting our community, allowing our small businesses to operate safely, and creating prosperity,” said National ACE President and CEO, Chiling Tong. “This conversation will help policymakers to understand the unmet needs of our community so we can find solutions. National ACE looks forward to working with the Seattle Greater Chinese Chamber of Commerce, ILF Seattle, Seattle Chong Wa Association, and the Filipino Chamber of the Pacific Northwest to advance solutions that will help our economy move forward.”
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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 through supporting and promoting issues that impact the AAPI business community, improving the economic development and economic impact of the AAPI community, advancing coalitions and 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 ILF Seattle:
The International Leadership Foundation (ILF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes the civic awareness, public service, and economic effectiveness of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Our mission is to develop young leaders in the United States, Asia, and other Pacific Rim countries in the fields of public service, entrepreneurship, and international business and politics through a network of business and community leaders. Since our founding in 2000, ILF has provided scholarships and leadership training for over a thousand select AAPI college students nation-wide.
About FCCPNW:
Since our founding in 1983, our Chamber has conducted conferences, workshops, seminars, and social networking events to promote comradeship, opportunities and business success. We have also sponsored trade missions to the Philippines and hosted Philippine government and business leaders here in Seattle. On a need basis we have participated with other Filipino organizations in providing civic services and assistance to our Filipino community members. More recently, we have launched our Online Palengke Mall to promote Filipino businesses and professionals.
About Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce:
Founded in 1963, The Greater Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce is the voice of the Chinese business community. We are a non-profit, non-partisan group that aims to bring together civic, professional and business leaders for advocating, fostering and protecting the interests of our members. For more information, please contact us at info@SeattleChineseChamber.org.
About Seattle Chong Wa Benevolent Association:
The purpose of the Association is to promote Chinese culture and general welfare within the community. Without limitation of the foregoing, the Association has the following specific purposes: 1) To establish communication and cooperation between the community, organizations, agencies and local government. 2) To foster the improvement, beautification, revitalization and preservation of Seattle's Chinatown. 3) To provide leadership in community issues.
Press Contact:
Janet Alikpala
jalikpala@nationalace.org
312-217-4369