Rep. Judy Chu: Small Businesses Is Key to Economy

Small businesses--including those run by immigrants--are the key to the economy, Congresswomen Judy Chu (D-CA 32) told approximately 400 business people at Thursday’s Asian Business Night at the .

The event--which was presented by the , the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce and the Arcadia Masonic Center--was designed to help the Asian business community connect and learn about tools available to help them succeeded.

Chu stressed immigrants' role as the “backbone of the economy.” She told the crowd, which was largely composed of immigrants, that one quarter of all business income in California is generated by immigrant businesses and stressed that immigrants are 30 percent more likely to go into business for themselves than non-immigrants.

“But you know, starting a new business is not a get rich quick scheme,” Chu said. “It means no vacations, long workdays and some very lean years in the beginning.”

Chu, who is a member of the House Small Business Committee and ranking chair of the House Small Business Federal Contracting Subcommittee, stressed the opportunities available in government contracts. She believes that small business do not get their fair share of the $535 billion worth of federal government contracts.

Small start-up businesses run by individuals, or micro-businesses, are a growing portion of today’s economy, and Chu said she has introduced the Entrepreneur Start-Up Growth Act to provide grants to help newly self-employed people navigate the process of starting a new business and take advantage of affordable tax assistance.

She advised attendees to visit the Small Business Administration website (www.sba.gov) for resources, including counselors to help businesses start up. She also suggested business owners take advantage of the Small Business Development Center. Until a San Gabriel Valley outlet opens up next year, the closest location is in Long Beach, but San Gabriel residents can contact Todor Trenkov to get help locally.

Pasadena resident and owner of an electronic recycling business, Philip Yen, asked the congresswoman to address his concern that Asian businesses weren’t always offered the same boosts as other minority businesses.

Chu told him that one of her focuses was to make sure that every ethnic group gets its fair share of Federal contracting. She was concerned that big businesses have to great a share of contracts available. Asian businesses are included category of disadvantaged business that are supposed to get 5 percent of government contracts. Still, Chu found that while 6 percent of the population is Asian, only 1.6 percent of federal contracts go to Asian businesses.

“You can see that we’re very underrepresented,” she said. “That’s why it’s my goal to make sure more people know about federal contracting – that they are prepared for it and we also make the system easier for them to be able to actually get those contracts.”

Yen thought her response was right on target. He thinks some Asian-Americans are being marginalized and excluded from government contracting. He found success getting contracts with with the U.S. General Services Administration and the U.S. Superior Court and is now working to acquire contracts with agencies such as the FBI.

He said access to government official contacts is crucial to scoring contracts. Resources such as the SBA help provide those contacts, and Yen found the contacts he needed through a GSA workshop he attended. From there, he was able to get his Superior Court contract through word of mouth.

The event also included seminars in Chinese to help business owners save on taxes, register trademarks and handle the sale of a business.

“We created this event mainly because we wanted to create a platform for Asian-American business networking,” Arcadia Chinese Association president Josephine Louie said.

She mentioned that the association also has monthly smaller workshops to help businesses.