Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Jenny Chen
Kishore Khandavalli, the founder and CEO of Seven Tablets, has been coming to the annual USPAACC conference, “CelebrAsian” for the last eight years. The Texan, whose company helps other companies develop mobile applications for their business, says that CelebrAsian is an opportunity to meet competitors in the market, build relationships with clients, and gain inspiration from the Asian American community.
CelebrAsian is the oldest and largest pan Asian American Procurement Opportunity Conference in the United States. It is hosted by The US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation (USPAACC): a 28-year old national nonprofit, non partisan organization representing all Asian American and Asian American-related groups in business, sciences, the arts, sports, education, public and community services.
This year’s theme, “Galloping with Change,” reflects the changing business environment, said USPAACC executive director, Susan Au Allen. This year’s conference hosted over 700 attendees – the most attendees in conference history.
A unique program at every CelebrAsian is the one-to-one procurement matchmaking where USPAACC staff personally match large, medium and small businesses to major corporations and federal, state, and local government agencies. Khandavalli says that he has landed contracts based on relationships created through these matchmaking sessions.
These matchmaking sessions are just one example of what sets CelebrAsian apart from other conferences. “At other small business conferences, [Asian American businesses] get lost,” said Allen. “We like to do business with people you feel comfortable with and trust. Eventually other minorities wanted to join us and we said sure,” Allen said.
Khandavalli agrees. “It’s a great platform to talk about the subtleties of being a first generation immigrant,” he said. At this, the 2014 conference, Khandavalli said he drew inspiration from the scholarship winners and their stories.
“The Asian American community is a driving force of the changing business landscape in this country,” Indra Nooyi, conference chair and CEO of PepsiCo. “This is a group of entrepreneurs and innovators whose ideas, energy, and intimate understanding of Asian cultures are making an incredible impact on the economy and reshaping the way we approach our business. That is why this event is so important and why I have chaired this conference several times.”
Nineteen scholarships were given out this year to outstanding youth who have demonstrated excellence and a desire to pursue success beyond their given circumstances. For example, Youa Thao, a student from Morris, Minnesota, became an orphan at seven years old and was taken in my her older brother. She received the On-Ping Yu and Bernadette Wung Yu Scholarship.