USPAACC’s Business Leadership Series (BLS) is back in a big way for 2016! Exclusively sponsored by Wells Fargo, BLS is a unique educational opportunity for business people to engage in a meaningful discussion about business experiences in order to grow leadership skills and learn practical management tools for future success.
The first webinar of the 2016 new was hosted on March 15 titled ‘Success Stories.’ Susan Au Allen, National President and CEO of USPAACC, kicked off the webinar with a welcome to the participants and panelists. USPAACC is the oldest and largest organization representing Asian American businesses in the United States, having celebrated their 30th Anniversary last June. They are the gateway for companies and organizations around the world to access Asian American businesses.
Doug Case, the next speaker, is a veteran in reaching out to small and minority businesses around the country. As the SVP and Small Business Segment Manager at Wells Fargo, Doug is responsible for the strategic direction of a unit that serves over 3 million business customers. Wells Fargo is not only the #1 small business lender, but now also the #1 small business SBA lender.
Wells Fargo and USPAACC recently collaborated on study to compare the business experiencesof the Asian American community with those of other segments, such as Veterans, African Americans, Women, and LGBT. The study and more, is available at wellsfargoworks.com, a platform that provides guidance and solutions on how to run your business day to day.
Doug explained that when comparing the result of the survey, his team noted a relative strength of Asian American businesses. Often times, Asian American businesses are better with business planning and tended to be larger in size.
Another study that Doug talked about, was the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, a quarterly poolto track present situation and future expectation of small business owners for the past 14 years. From 2003-2007, Doug indicated that results were optimistic. From 2008-2011, however, we saw a major decline due to the great recession. In recent quarters, the results show an up and down optimism amongst small business owners which tells the story of a more gradual pace of improvement than other industries.
Elizabeth Tran, President of TechniSource Service Group, Inc., and Yung Lee, President of WinWin Products, Inc., joined the webinar next to share their experiences as business owners and members of USPAACC. Both business owners have grown their businesses, but share a common bond in the value of their USPAACC membership. In Elizabeth’s case, the organization has been influential to their success. Specifically by creating new connections, and opening doors to participate on bids and work with new suppliers.
