"There's more to success than technical expertise, technical knowledge," Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce
Cultural barriers face many Asian Americans
Brian Tumulty
Gannett News Service
(May 7, 2005) — WASHINGTON -- Many Asian-American business owners are culturally reluctant to engage in self-promotion and need to focus on the networking skills and marketing.
That's one of the key messages that permeated a three-day meeting of the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce in Washington this week.
"There's more to success than technical expertise, technical knowledge," Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told attendees Wednesday.
Chao, who at age 8 arrived in the New York City borough of Queens from Taiwan, told the business group, "I've never forgotten my roots."
"While attending a number of Hispanic-American events, I realized -- I noted -- that there was no such training opportunity or events geared toward helping Asian Pacific Americans gaining access to mainstream America," she said.
Chao has tried to draw attention to government job opportunities by sponsoring an annual Asian Pacific American Federal Career Advancement Summit. This year's session was Tuesday.
"There are people who have been in America for decades, they may not fully understand the full panoply of opportunities," Chao said in an interview, noting that the summit includes workshops on improving what she called soft skills, including interpersonal communication and leadership.
Chao said she's also tried -- barring conflicts in her schedule -- to attend the annual conventions of the U.S. Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce, which is the only national organization of its kind.
For the past four years, the convention has included a suppliers' business fair that allows Asian-American business owners to make one-on-one contacts with large corporations such as FedEx, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Wendy's, Citigroup and Marriott.
"This is a real marketplace where transactions are made," said Susan Au Allen, president of the U.S. Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce. "This is where Asian-American businesses learn about corporate America."
Allen estimated that 800 people from 250 businesses attended this year's conference.
The one-on-one contacts help the often too-polite business owners learn that corporations don't consider it offensive if a potential supplier makes repeated phone calls, she said.
Michael Tobolski attended the fair as a representative of Marriott hotels. "We act as facilitators to get them hooked up to the right people," he said.
Donald Chu, president and chief executive of Tronex International Inc., a distributor of disposable medical equipment based in Denville, N.J., said one of the fairs led to a sales contract with the American Red Cross.
