By Jan Norman, The Orange County Register, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 24--Six local ethnic business groups will honor their businessperson of the year Thursday during BizCon 2003, which promotes cross-ethnic business opportunities in Orange County.
BizCon 2003 starts with a golf tournament today at Coyote Hills Golf Course in Fullerton and continues Thursday with the expo at the Sequoia Conference Center. The concept is to provide both informal and formal opportunities for connecting and contracting, said Bobby McDonald, president of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County and chairman of the Orange County Presidents Council.
Southern California has approximately a half-million minority-owned businesses, more than any other state, according to the U.S. Census.
The Presidents Council encompasses 23 local ethnic and business organizations, many of which have been working several years to create one event that would provide multiethnic business networking and contract opportunities, McDonald said.
"We wanted to bring together corporations and small businesses with access to the products, services and government assistance that will enhance business here," McDonald said.
Exhibitors say BizCon 2003 offers them an opportunity to make minority businesses familiar with their products and services.
"It fits our corporate strategy...to reach out to all the communities we serve," said Todd Hollander, senior vice president of the business-banking group for Wells Fargo Bank. "It's just good business. Minority businesses are growing at double the rate of nonminority businesses, both in sales and in numbers."
Honoring top businesses is an important part of the event, McDonald said.
"Six minority chambers timed the announcement of their business person of the year to show that there are real live minority business successes in Orange County."
The honorees are: William N. Byers Jr., Black Chamber; Adrian Castro, Asian Business Association; Dr. Shawn Hwang Hamilton, Chinese American Chamber; David Kim, Korean Chamber; Chieu Le and Henry Huong Le, Vietnamese Chamber; and William Rivera, Hispanic Chamber.
Byers is co-founder of Zen Media Agency LLC with offices in Anaheim and Thousand Oaks. The firm creates interactive content for the Internet, CD-ROM, DVD and wireless platforms. Before starting his own business in 2001, Byers was executive vice president at SysTECH Inc., which provided interactive programming for Fortune 500 companies, celebrities and foundations in the United States and Europe.
Castro owns A Winning Verdict Productions in Irvine. The company, founded in 1990, specializes in providing legal videos and documentaries for law firms and procedurally correct recordings for court proceedings.
Hamilton opened her medical practice in Irvine in 1998 after completing her internal medicine residency at King Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles. She treats many moderate-income Chinese workers. She has been active in the Chinese business community and contributed to scholarship funds locally.
Kim, chief director of the Santa Ana Symphony, opened Kim's Piano in Garden Grove with his brother in 1991. Before immigrating to the United States in 1987, Kim and his family owned a business in Korea for 35 years. Kim's Piano stocks more than 200 pianos from uprights to electric pianos to baby grand pianos.
The Les own Lee Brothers Foodservices Inc. and Lee's Sandwiches International, both headquartered in San Jose. The food-services business started a single catering truck in 1981 and now has 500 independently owned and operated trucks throughout northern California. Lee's Sandwiches now operates eight delicatessens throughout the state and plans to open at least 12 more in 2004.
Rivera founded Mini-Mailers with offices in Irvine and Commerce in 1986.
Mini-Mailers is a high-tech mailing service for direct marketers. It has grown from a 700-square-foot office to a 23,000-square-foot plant in Commerce and 27,000-square-foot facility in the Irvine Spectrum. It has 90 employees.
The winning entrepreneur will have exhibit space at BizCon 2003, which will give them exposure to a hundred other exhibits and hundreds of people expected to attend the event, McDonald said. "Instead of just getting another plaque, they will get invaluable exposure to the business community."
To see more of The Orange County Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ocregister.com
(c) 2003, The Orange County Register, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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