API SBP News: API SBP Honored by the SBA with National Award of Excellence
Photo Caption: Ron Fong, Director of API SBP, receives award for 2011 National Women's Business Center Award of Excellence in Washington D.C.
2011 National Women's Business Center Award of Excellence The Women’s Business Center of Excellence Award honors a Women’s Business Center for its excellence and innovation helping women entrepreneurs through a wide variety of training and counseling. Since in 2004, the Women’s Business Center (WBC) at the Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (API SBP) has consistently provided micro-enterprise development services to assist and equip women, as well as low-income and immigrant groups. The API SBP WBC is a collaborative of five community organizations that include the Chinatown Service Center, Koreatown Youth & Community Center, Little Tokyo Service Center CDC, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) and the Thai Community Development Center.
In its 8 year history, the API SBP WBC has counseled and trained more than 8,000 individuals, businesses and entrepreneurs. The center, which served nearly 3,500 clients in fiscal year 2010, has assisted with the formation of 300 jobs and start-up businesses and has helped many more to retain jobs and sustain existing businesses. At the helm of the center is WBC Director Colleen Seto. Her background in accounting and financial administration has helped the WBC to maintain a high-level of service through its small/micro credit education and counseling efforts. The center’s grass-roots approach provides services in language and in culturally appropriate settings. The center serves as a vital link between the mainstream economy and ethnic small businesses and helps entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses in the community.
