Officials at the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce are rolling out a new program this year designed to help buyers and vendors make the best use of networking events like the East-West Business Connection they hosted Wednesday.
Some 50 buyers took advantage of the opportunity at the 23rd annual matchmaking event held at the Wayne State University Student Center. The event is designed to bring together members of the Asian-American-Pacific Islander and minority business communities and the general business community and allow them an opportunity to connect with corporate buyers.
The chamber’s new supplier readiness program is designed to help buyers make those connections successful.
“It’s a kind of a playbook that we provided to all of the suppliers prior to this event,” said Duc Abrahamson, APACC’s executive director. “It helps them go through what they need to prepare prior to coming to matchmaking events like this, what they need to do once they’re here, what certain lingo is from buyers, how to follow up with the right questions to get the answers that you need to make sure that you can prepare for that next step?”
It works not only for events like Wednesday’s, Abrahamson said, but also during the “season” of matchmaking events that attracts buyers and suppliers that helps keep the supply chain “resilient throughout the year” and that all needs are being met.
“I just want to make sure that the suppliers are getting ready in the appropriate way, rather than thinking, like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go to an event like this and make a multi-million-dollar deal,’” she said. “That’s not what you’re going to do at this event. Can it lead to that? Yes. But there are certain things that you need to prepare yourself for prior to an event like this, what you need to do at events like this, and then after an event, how to follow up. You can’t say, ‘Oh, I met you at East West Business Connection.’
“Buyers meet a lot of people; that means nothing to them,” she added. “So how do you identify yourself? Even if you met with this person and pitched to them, how do you follow through? What is it that you should follow through with so that they have that information?”
In addition to connecting buyers with suppliers, Wednesday’s East-West event featured a presentation on supplier readiness and procurement alignment.
Keynote speaker Gerrit Reepmeyer, a partner at AlixPartners, a financial advisory and global consulting firm, focused on resilience strategies for navigating the Asia-North America supply chain.
APACC also honored a pair of award-winners during the event:
- Sunni Samberg, the series purchasing leader for Forvia, ws presented the Business Advocate Award recognizing exceptional contributions to advancing small businesses.
- Raj Dechen, President & CEO, Dechen Consulting Group Inc., was awarded the Trailblazer of Excellence Award recognizing businesses demonstrating exceptional leadership and innovation.
In other years, Fifth Third Bank would have had a booth at this event. But as Fifth Third’s Teresa LeFevre explained, the bank’s acquisition of Comerica left it in a transition period where the booth just didn’t happen.
That didn’t keep LeFevre, who joined Fifth Third in the acquisition, from taking advantage of the East-West Connection.
“Like any other corporation here, Fifth Third is very interested in engaging with small businesses and businesses from lots of different represented groups,” LeFevre said. “We’re also interested in contributing to the development of small businesses so they can become more enterprise ready.”
Amy Kitchen, who handles business development for her company, Mattawan-based MetaOps, has been attending the East-West event since 2020, called the event a “great opportunity to network.” “We get exposure to companies, to hear what’s happening inside the small business economy here in Michigan. It helps the business because it gives you access to buyers you might not otherwise have.”
