White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) Supports Philadelphia “Fil-Am Small Business Boot Camp”

Filipino American leaders recently gathered together for the “Fil-Am Small Business Boot Camp” partnered with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) at the Municipal Services Building of Philadelphia, PA.  Leaders from Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and as far as Atlanta, Georgia attended the first time Small Business Boot Camp supporting local and regional Fil-Am small businesses, startup ventures, and entrepreneurs.

THE MISSION:

The boot camp, which took a year in the making, was jump started by the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Pennsylvania & Southern New Jersey (PACC-PASNJ) spear-headed by President Brad Baldia who set out to partner with WHIAAPI.

When U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Executive Order reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) in October of 2009, the focus of the initiative was to support Asian American and Pacific Islander participation in programs in education, commerce, business, health, human services, housing, environment, arts, agriculture, labor and employment, transportation, justice, veterans affairs and economic and community development.  The summit was built along the premise that this would be the first among many to come.

According to Mr. Baldia, “This is a historic national initiative focused on building capacity within our business community and was created in partnership with the WHIAAPI, as one of five projects selected as part of WHIAAPIs Challenge.gov program to help improve the quality of life for AAPIs.”

HELP TO FIL-AMS:

Several national Fil-Am leaders were present for the boot camp, among them included New York Philippine Consul General Mario Lopez De Leon, Jr., National Federation of Filipino American Association (NaFFAA) National Chairman JT Mallonga, and Emmy award winning entertainment TV Personality, Billy Dec.

The leaders paid homage given that this historical event was the first project in partnership with WHIAAPI not to forget to mention it is the “only project focused on the Filipino American community”, says Baldia and further added, “The purpose of this project is to strengthen and increase the visibility of Filipino-American businesses in America and abroad.  This is an opportunity to connect with the Filipino-American business community to share resources, discuss best practices, and ultimately provide the resources and tools to help business owners and professionals succeed.” 

THE AGENDA:

The boot camp’s program featured a diverse cast of national leaders including WHIAAPI Commissioners Nina Ahmad & Billy Dec, WHIAAPI Senior Advisor George Mui, , Philadelphia Deputy Mayor Alan Greenberger who represented the City of Philadelphia on behalf of Mayor Michael Nutter, and Philadelphia Councilman-At-Large David Oh; also bringing representatives from the Small Business Administration (SBA), U.S. Census Bureau, and Temple University Small Business Development Center amongst others.  In a letter from Mayor Nutter he urged “The Filipino-American Business Boot Camp is an opportunity to bring the Asian American and Pacific Islander business community together and share ideas on how best to prepare and provide resources to build a stronger community.” For the very first time, the Filipino-American Model Code of Business Practices was presented and discussed which sets principles and standards for the business community.

Workshops were provided throughout the day focusing on business and entrepreneurship, featuring Discussion/Panel Sessions regarding Foundational Building and Business Practices, Government Resources, Access to Capital, Business Mainstreaming, and Doing Business with the Philippines.

With a successful program that featured close to 100 attendees, the PACC-PASNJ along with Baldia and team have their sights set to the future doing more projects across the country saying, “Our vision is that this is just the beginning and that with the support of WHIAAPI, SBA, and MBDA, this will open new doors to Filipino-American entrepreneurs and professionals and inspire the next generation of business leaders to be involved in the community”