Non-profit Promotes Economic Growth for Asian American Entrepreneurs

Boston, MA (March 19, 2002) - Aquent has partnered with the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC) to establish a Boston chapter of this organization. The USPAACC is a seventeen-year-old national, non-profit organization representing all Asian American groups in business. Its mission is to promote and nurture economic growth through education and network programs which foster business opportunities for Asian Americans and their business partners in corporate America and government agencies.

"With the emergence of more and more minority- and women-owned businesses over the past several years, it's important that all businesses recognize the importance of opening channels of communication with these enterprises," said Mia Wenjen, one of the founders of the USPAACC Boston chapter and co-founder of Aquent. "And, based on the positive response we received at our first event, it's evident that Boston's business community recognizes this and shares USPAAC's vision of enhancing the visibility of minority-owned businesses."

In Massachusetts, there are 12,729 minority-owned firms with 1,960 of those operating in Boston. According to the Census Bureau report issued every five years by the U.S. Commerce, minority-owned businesses grew more than four times as fast as U.S. firms, overall, between 1992 and 1997, increasing from 2.1 million to about 2.8 million firms. The 30 percent growth rate exceeded the seven percent increase for all U.S. firms, which jumped from 17.3 million in 1992 to 18.4 million in 1997. Receipts of all minority-owned firms (excluding C corporations) rose 60 percent to $335.3 billion in 1997, compared with a 40 percent increased for all U.S. firms over the same period.

Aquent hosted USPAACC- Boston's first business colloquy earlier this year, bringing together nearly 40 of the area's Asian American entrepreneurs and managers from corporations and government agencies. The event gave participants the opportunity to network, share their experiences, exchange ideas, and formulate strategies to expand business opportunities for each other. Participants included Sara Ting of World Unity, Inc., Yoke Wong of Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Kija Kim of Harvard Design & Mapping Co., Norman Chan of Cyber Computer Technology Inc., Vern Chin and Carol Chin of McDonald's, Sau-King Chan of Citizens Bank, Mary Truong of Fleet, Douglas Ling of Asian Community Development Corporation, David Polatin of SBA, and Shelly Schwartz of the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency.

Aquent is the largest minority-owned business enterprise in Massachusetts and one of the largest minority-owned staffing companies in the world. In addition to Wenjen, other founding members of USPAACC-Boston include Aquent's customer service manager, Erin Bloom, who will serve as vice president of administration for the organization.

For more information or to join USPAACC-Boston, call 617-535-4578. For more information on USPAACC, visit uspaacc.com.

About Aquent
Aquent (aquent.com) is a privately held professional services company with nearly 70 offices in 15 countries. Aquent focuses on IT and Creative Services, and provides a wide range of consulting, outsourcing, and staffing solutions for Global 1000 companies. Aquent was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.