ACC Newsletters
Our monthly newsletter features articles that provide great insight into Denver's Asian business and cultural community.
NEW! 2006 Annual Report
Download 2006 Annual Report (PDF)
2005 Asian Chamber of Commerce Annual Report
The mission of the Asian Chamber of Commerce is to promote awareness and to assist in the economic development of the Asian Business Community.
2005 was a year marked by the building of Asian Chamber of Commerce (ACC) board member committee partnerships, the response of the Asian tsunami and laying of foundations for future events, projects and successes.
The Year in Review
2005 was a year that was led by Asian Chamber of Commerce (ACC) board chair Teresa Kostenbauer, Senior Manager for International Business and Career Development at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.
The vision of the board for 2005 was to focus on business education and workshop topics related to this area and revamping the ACC committees to 3 new committees, which were marketing, membership and fundraising. Also, the 1 yr. appointment of a student board member, a graduate student at DU’s Daniel’s College of Business was our first student board member.
The idea about having a minority career fair was discussed and board members felt that this event would give the ACC good exposure and new membership funding. The goal is to have this career fair in February of 2007.
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
The ACC remains very involved in the Minority Business Enterprise, (MBE) advisory councils with the Denver Public Schools, RTD, the T-REX and the long term Fastracks transit project. These advisory councils were established so that the Minority and Women’s Chamber Coalition President’s could meet quarterly to discuss the upcoming scope of work on the various projects that our chamber members could bid on or apply for business opportunities.
Right: Liley Shen, 2007 Asian Chamber
Board Chair. Left: Yi-Chun Kuo,
2006 Asian Chamber Board Chair.
Getting the most from your membership
ACC Networking Opportunities are the key to success
The ACC is a partner in the Minority and Women’s Chamber Coalition, (MWCC) which was founded in 1989. Collectively, the 5 chambers represent 3000 individual, small business, non-profit, educational institutions and corporate members. This coalition is a national model for small business economic development and was given the 690 Points of Light Award in 1991 by President George W. Bush.
The ACC is proud to be a partner in this national model and as a coalition we do several events a year such as Summit of the Chambers which also includes the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Business Council as partners in this incredible networking event.
The MWCC is an active participant in Minority Enterprise Development, (MED) Week that is held in September of each year.
- Throughout the year there were a variety of business workshops taught by ACC members. Among the topics presented were Entrepreneurship, How to Write a Business Plan, Starting and Growing a Business, Financing Your Business and Financial Planning & Accounting.
- Our members attended an immigration meeting forum organized by Diana DeGette’s office. A few connected highlights were a reception sponsored by the Minority and Women’s Chamber Coalition, (which includes the Asian, Denver Hispanic, Colorado Women’s Colorado Black and Rocky Mountain Indian Chambers of Commerce) and Daniels College of Business to welcome the new Dean of the Daniels College of Business, Dr. Karen L. Newman.
The ACC business after-hours and other networking events went very well in 2005. John Wright, President of ACC receives award from the Asian Pacific American Times at their 10th Anniversary Celebration. - The International Rodeo after-hours held in January at the National Western Stock Show was a great kick-off and a huge networking event that included all of the international chambers and business associations in the Front Range of Colorado.
- ACC members participated in numerous celebrations during Chinese New Year.
- Our annual Denver Bronco’s Football event at Invesco with the Colorado Black Chamber was very well attended and our golf tournament was a great networking opportunity for our corporate members to meet and golf with some of the small business owners. Our golf tournament for 2006 will be held at Arrowhead Golf Club.
- On May 20, 2005 the Asian Pacific American Economic Summit was held. An ACC board member took the lead on organizing this forum to discuss critical economic issues. Seven Asian American organizations as well as the State of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade organized and sponsored the daylong forum. The day concluded with a general session and closing remarks. As a result of this important economic summit, it clearly demonstrated how the Asian Pacific American, (APA) community plays a substantial role in Colorado’s economic vitality. The summit was most helpful in making the APA voices heard with respect to business policy and regulations. The Asian Pacific American Community Assessment Data Book was developed and there are copies of this report in the ACC office.
- In August the 7th Annual SBA Resource Fair was held at the Denver Public Library. This resource fair featured 40 banks, credit unions and community organizations that had information booths for the over 500 small business owners and future small business owners who attended throughout the day. The ACC was a co-founder in developing this most informative small business resource fair, which continues to grow in interest every year.
- In December of 2005 we held our 19th Annual Business Awards and Holiday Party. Two hundred and ten people attended this event. The ACC Media Award went to the Colorado Chinese News, the small business award to Johny Hsu, owner of the Imperial and Palace Restaurants and the corporate award went to Denver Water. There was special thanks to Tashia Tucker who has worked with Kelly Than and John Wright to change the ACC web site format to a new and more user friendly format for our membership.
The Asian tsunami, which hit the costal areas of eastern India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Bay of Bengal, was a devastating situation that happened on December 26, 2004.
The people of Colorado held many fundraisers for the victims of the tsunami relief and the people of Denver decided that since the city of Chennai, India was a Denver ‘sister city’, that this would be the city of cause to help in this time of crisis. Over $65,000 was raised through fundraisers and these donations were able to help build new homes for 50 families in two villages on the outskirts of Chennai.
In February, John Wright, ACC President was invited on a trade mission to India organized by the State of Colorado’s International Trade Office. The eight person delegation stayed mainly in Delhi and Mumbai where they received a briefing at the U.S. Embassy, visited various Indian owned businesses and business associations such as NASSCOM, (National Association of Software Companies) the Confederation of Indian Industry and a briefing on the state of the Indian economy by Ms. Malvika, Director of Economics and Taxation.
In Chennai John met with Mr. ‘Pappa’ Vidyakar, the founder of ‘My Helping Hands’, (Udavum Karangal) which is the organization that will administer the funds for the rehabilitation and reconstruction work for the affected areas in Chennai where the tsunami hit.
Our success allowed us to grow and become more successful!
The Denver Chennai committee and Denver Sister Cities International arranged the meeting and it was through their suggestion that the funds raised for the tsunami relief efforts be administered through the ‘My Helping Hands’ organization. John’s meeting in Chennai was to present the letter of intent expressing DSCI’s interest to make the donation of $65,000 to ‘My Helping Hands’ and visit the areas where the building efforts will take place. John has served as a DSCI board member since 2001 and DSCI board Secretary in 2005.
2005: Promoting Awareness and Assisting in the Economic Development of the Asian Business Community
Asian Community:
ACC members and board members are very active in Asian Community events such as the Aurora Asian Film Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, American Cancer Society Asian Pacific American Relay for Life event, (this was the 1st pan-Asian Relay For Life event of the American Cancer Society in our nation) and the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival which has helped to raise the awareness of Colorado’s Asian Community.
We would like to thank our staff, membership, board members, interns and volunteers for making 2005 a great year. We will continue to advocate, provide local and international business opportunities to our membership and we look for forward to a successful 2006.
Sincerely,
John Wright
President, ACC
"We must be the change we wish to see." - Gandhi
Global
Supporting the Asian Business Community, as well as, International Issues