Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce Holds Inaugural Gala (Asian Fortune)

By Jackie-Bong Wright

ARLINGTON, Virginia–“VietAmCham’s mission is to empower the community through business development under the highest of standards, through building relationships with other chambers and like-minded organizations, with members of the community across different sectors, and with business folks and professionals.” Executive Director Katie Dang made these remarks in front of 250 guests at the inaugural of the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce, held at the Westin Gateway hotel here.

A corporate lawyer at one of New York’s top Wall Street law firms, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Katie, in her early 30s, is an achiever. Born in Pulau Bidong refugee camp in Malaysia, she came to the U.S. in 1981 with her parents, “boat people” refugees from Vietnam.

She went on, “Building relationships should go beyond the Vietnamese American community, exploring strategic collaborations with other Chambers of Commerce, providing opportunities, conducting seminars to reach across cultures, informing the public on financial literacy and increasing business technology.”

Katie concluded with a theme, an image that recurred throughout her program materials – the pieces of a puzzle. “Individually, we showcase only a fraction of what is possible, but coming together, we can realize a tremendous vision. Each of you is a part of this vision – a piece that we need to accomplish, to have a collective voice for Vietnamese American businesses.”

VietAmCham is a national non-profit established six months ago. It comprises mostly young successful second generation Vietnamese business people in their early 30s and 40s. Two women lead the group.

Lieu Nguyen, Chairperson, is the vice president of Business Development at Safe Living Inc. She also serves as commercial broker at Westgate Realty Group, where she promotes foreign investment to and from the U.S., concentrating on Asia.

“VietAmCham, said Leu, “serves as an incubator to empower the community economically and provides issue advocacy at state and federal levels. We reach out to college students, young professionals and entrepreneurs and encourage them to accept responsibilities, effect changes, and give back to the community.”

Lieu acknowledged the local Vietnamese American chambers in Orange County, Houston, Dallas and Hawaii for their work and pledged to collaborate with them to “move our Vietnamese American community forward socially, economically, and politically.”

Resources and Opportunities

Providing an office for VietAmCham, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang gives the new entity strong support. As Executive Director of Boat People SOS, he has helped over 50 faith and community organizations with both financial and technical assistance to develop their capacities for the past ten years. VietAmCham is the newest recipient.

Another founding member, Cliff Nguyen, a young graduate of Harvard in Economics, announced, “We look to host various workshops where we can bring a bank expert, for instance, to educate our members on various loan programs for small businesses to obtain financing.”

Cliff is the CEO of Willows Development Company, a small development and real estate services company focused in the Mid-Atlantic region and dedicated to promoting the environmental health of Chesapeake Bay.

Shandon Phan, a Public Relations board member, observed, “The first generation of Vietnamese who came here as boat people found their freedom in this land and have used that freedom to build their own businesses, eventually establishing Little Saigon communities across the country.

Today, second generation Vietnamese Americans, including those of Generation 1.5, have successfully embraced that entrepreneurial spirit, making their marks in various industries. To paraphrase President Reagan, “These entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all of the Vietnamese American community’s economic growth.” With a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law, Shandon Phan is currently a U.S. Marine Corps JAG officer candidate.

“With sufficient planning and support,” he continued, VietAmCham can operate as a non-partisan, pro-business PAC that stands for the political interests of its business members and contributes to the national policy debates on important issues.”

With the three highest Vietnamese American elected officials, Congressman Joseph Anh Cao (R-LA), Assemblyman Van Tran (R-CA), and state representative Hubert Vo (D-TX), as co-chairs, VietAmCham wants to serve as a bridge between the Vietnamese American business community and the mainstream economy. Over the past decade, revenues for the country’s 150,000 Vietnamese American business owners have more than doubled. Their gross receipts account for well over $25 billion annually.

Keynote speaker Quang Pham, 44, is a decorated Marine Corps veteran and author of “A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey.” He is the Founder and CEO of Lathian Health and raised $6 million in venture capital within 90 days to start his own business, leading it to rapid growth. His pharmaceutical marketing company specializes in delivering promotional messages to physicians via the Internet.

Bill Gates was among his role models. Quang said that during the 1970s recession, Gates took risks, invested capital and was successful in creating jobs, “He didn’t wait for the government to bail businesses out.” At the inaugural, Quang urged entrepreneurs to dare to take risks and told them to keep in mind Andrew Cheng, Panda Express chairman’s adage, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.”

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