[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24726]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL COUNCIL OF ASIAN AMERICAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 2009

  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to show my support for the 
National Council of Asian American Business Associations (NCAABA), and 
for the important work the NCAABA has done for the Asian American and 
Pacific Islander business community.
  NCAABA was founded in 2000 to be the voice of Asian American business 
owners at the national level, serving as a conduit of resource and 
information, to educate the public, private and business sectors, to 
advance America's economic growth and stability.
  Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders (AA 
NHOPIs) are the fastest growing demographic group in America. In 2002, 
there were 1.1 million Asian American-owned firms in America, 
generating $326 billion in revenues, with the number of Asian American-
owned firms growing 24% from 1997, about twice the national average for 
all businesses. In addition, there were 29,000 Native Hawaiian and 
Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI)-owned firms, generating $4.3 billion in 
revenue, with the number of NHOPI-owned firms growing 49% from 1997, 
roughly 4 times the average for all businesses. In fact, California, 
with more than 1/3 million Asian American-owned firms has the largest 
number of Asian American-owned firms of any state in America.
  As America's companies aim to meet the demands of the emerging 
markets in America, and Asia, AA NHOPIs, who have the cultural and 
communications skills to create new opportunities, new jobs, and new 
investments, are in demand.
  Given this dramatic growth of AA NHOPI business owners, supplier 
diversity or the use of minority owned vendors as suppliers, has become 
a practice that is increasingly important to the success of any 
business. I want to take this opportunity to commend the National 
Council of Asian American Business Associations, and presenting sponsor 
Wells Fargo, in launching the NCAABA Supplier Academy at UCLA on 
October 14-15, 2009, to ensure that AA NHOPIs will have the cultural 
and linguistic leadership skills to optimize the resources of the 
global market, to create sustainable economic change and climate 
change.

                          ____________________