To assist small businesses in overcoming economic barriers, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI) hosted its eighth economic summit at The Cove at UCI on Aug. 8.
The summit series, launched by the Biden-Harris administration, brought together business owners from Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities around the nation. It was an effort to connect business owners with federal agencies and networking opportunities.
Helen Beaudreau, senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services described small businesses as “the engines of our economy.”
Beaudreau believes WHIAANHPI’s summits are a way to bridge the gap between the number of existing Asian American businesses and the total amount of contract funding they receive.
According to the inaugural report released for the president in May 2022, “about 3% of federal procurement dollars go to AA and NHPI communities, yet approximately 10% of all businesses are owned by AA and NHPIs.”
President Biden signed Executive Order 14031 in May of 2021, reestablishing and expanding WHIAANHPI as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with the President’s Advisory Commission Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AA and NHPI).
Representatives from both institutions were present in this year’s summit, with two members of the president’s cabinet also in attendance. Trade Representative and Ambassador Katherine Tai and Small Business Administrator Isabel Guzman participated in a public conversation with Erika Moritsugu, deputy assistant to the president and AA and NHPI senior liaison.
The discussion focused on efforts by the Biden-Harris administration to promote equity and opportunities for small businesses, referencing the administration’s response to the 2023 Maui wildfires.
Guzman spoke of a “whole of government approach,” which unites different government sectors and agencies to solve issues. It was adopted by the Small Business Administration (SBA), which strove to rebuild Maui with disaster loan contracts and post-disaster federal resources. WHIAANHPI uses the same approach in making policies and developing programs that promote its mission.
The Federal Resource Fair, which ran for most of the event, featured government agencies such as the SBA and U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services. The Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment, a community developed non-profit that receives funding from the Small Business Administration to offer loans for business owners, promoted its services to business owners during the fair.
“My goal is to get more clients and partner with lenders that work with SBA,” loan counselor Humera Aftab said. Part of her job is to help business owners who do not meet the requirements for an SBA loan, qualify.
Paulina Hong, who is a development director for the Asian American Drug Abuse Program, attended the summit with the goal of partnering with federal agencies, such as the Department of Energy or Environmental Protection Agency, to expand her organization’s workforce development programs.
“We’re trying to bring in as many opportunities to the local residents as possible,” Hong said.
Many government representatives at the event came from immigrant, small business-owner families, including Michelle Kwan, U.S. ambassador to Belize and former Olympic figure skater.
“[An economic summit] is critical to ensuring every American can achieve the American dream as we know it, and have the resources to thrive,” Kwan said.
Mariam Farag is a News Intern for the summer 2024 quarter. She can be reached at msfarag@uci.edu.
Edited by Victoria Le and Annabelle Aguirre
