Los Angeles, CA - Small business owners from across the Los Angeles area came out to KCCD's "Get Corporate Ready for 2011 - Small Business Seminar," January 20 at the Southern California Minority Business Development Council (SCMBDC).
"We are excited at the turnout for this wonderful opportunity," said Hyepin Im, President & CEO of KCCD. "KCCD would like to thank our lead sponsor, the Greenlining Institute, as well as our other sponsors, participating agencies, elected officials and guest speakers." Michael Synn, Director of Sales and Marketing for BCF Capital, led the half-day seminar, which covered writing formal business contracts, doing trade shows, the "60-second commercial" and making best impressions.
"The most important thing that we wanted to achieve was to give the business owner the hard, black-and-white answers to the most difficult questions," said Synn.
Representatives from Hyundai were also on hand to help guide small business owners through the process of working with a large corporation.
"There's a lot of valuable tools here," said Walter Rodriguez, Director of Supplier Diversity for Hyundai, speaking to the participants. "Everything you've learned here is absolutely true."
Peter Lee, Vice President of Department of Supplier Diversity for Wells Fargo coached attending small business owners through the process of writing a formal business plan.
"This seminar was very important because it allowed us to address the Asian community not only in how to build a business plan, but also how to conduct themselves and how to generate revenue."
Korean-Americans have the highest rate of self-employment, and yet are 1 of 4 minority communities under the national average median income. "This seminar, along with many of our other programs and events, addresses this gap by giving small and minority business owners the tools they need to grow their revenues," said Hyepin Im.
Richard Chacon, Vice President and Supplier Diversity Manager of Union Bank, went through how to do a trade show. "Union Bank is committed to increasing the amount of purchasing and contract opportunities conducted with diverse businesses located in the communities we serve," said Chacon. "To take advantage of such opportunities small and minority-owned businesses need to assess their capacity and capability in servicing large corporations. The KCCD workshop provided meaningful information on the challenges and success stories experienced by small business owners." Other speakers and guests included Jane Pak, CEO of the National Association of Women Business Owners - Los Angeles (NAWBO-L.A.), who explained the art of the 60-second commercial; Robin Billups, Supplier Diversity Manager for US Bank; Jan Perry, L.A. City Councilmember; Culver City Mayor Christopher Armenta, who was representing Vice Chairperson Jerome E. Horton of the California State Board of Equalization; and Crystal Shin, People's Choice, Miss Asia USA. The response from small business owners attending the seminar was overwhelmingly positive. "It was worth every penny ... and I look forward to the next one," said Jinah Kim, Executive Producer, WorldWiseProductions and NBC News Correspondent.
"I'm glad that we were able to participate today," said Denise Sung Lee, Principal with Khronicle Partners, Inc. "As a small business, ... we now have to act like a large firm in order to do business with the corporates." "This event was very helpful ... I'd like to see more of these events," said Roger Cheng, Business Developer for Apex Computer Systems, Inc. "At the end of the day, we all want to get business so why not help each other out?" Other participants described the small business seminar as: "A wonderful opportunity to meet business people and a great seminar." "Frank, honest information about the process of bidding." "An opportunity to speak with corporations." "Dynamic, pertinent speakers, and practical, usable information." "Insight regarding supplier diversity process / protocol." For more information about this and other KCCD initiatives please call 213-985-1500 or e-mail info@kccd3300.org.
You can also visit us online at www.KCCD.org.
See below for more pictures!
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Don't forget to register for the Southern California Minority Business Development Council's
MBOD 2011
Minority Business Opportunity Day
February 24, 2011
Pacific Palms Conference Resort
Industry Hills, CA
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