USPAACC National President & CEO Testifies Before U.S. Senate Committee
WASHINGTON, DC | March 7, 2011
Susan Au Allen, National President & CEO of US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation (USPAACC), testified on small and minority business issues on March 3 before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
The hearing, entitled “Closing the Gap: Exploring Minority Access to Capital and Contracting Opportunities” was chaired by Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana). The Committee also included Ranking Member Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and 17 U.S. Senators.
In her oral and written testimony, Allen discussed the salient issues that USPAACC 8(a) members currently face, including: difficulties in accessing capital, restrictive contract bundling and related issues, hurdles in business development, RFP standardization, past performance request, adverse effects of insourcing and parity in the mentor-protégé program. She recommended creating better programs for small and minority businesses to level the playing field.
“I am honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to speak to the esteemed U.S. Senate Committee on the challenges our members face as they strive to sustain, grow and compete in the mainstream,” said Allen after her testimony. “I am also honored to have lent a voice on behalf of our members, and believe the Committee has heard us—loud and clear—as we go beyond the rhetoric and bring viable solutions that truly help our constituency.”
The Committee Chairperson, Senator Landrieu, praised Allen’s testimony as “powerful” and Ranking Member Senator Snowe’s Staff Director said it was a “home run.”
The other panelists included: Dr. Robert Fairlie, Professor of Economics at the University of California at Santa Cruz; Mark Morial, Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League; Doyle Mitchell, Chairman of the National Bankers Association; and Martha Montoya, Procurement Chair of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
