Dr. Bryan Kieler knows that, as children, humans will fall hundreds of times, and their recovery plan involves simply picking themselves up, dusting themselves off and starting again.
But Kieler, a Senior Vice President and Michigan Market Manager for Community Development Banking for PNC Bank, points out that business models often don’t incorporate that mindset and, with the ever-changing nature of the business world lately, maybe they need to.
“In our business models, we might be on the right path, but because we fall, we have a negative outcome,” Kieler said. “We’re quick to change that, not refine. It can negate our resiliency. So I can’t be clueless of what’s happening in the world today.”
Kieler was the keynote speaker Wednesday at the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce’s 22nd East-West Business Connection Matchmaking event at Wayne State University.
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.
Nearly 70 buyers were represented at the event, which drew more than 250 people.
“They have to try to find suppliers who are going to fit within their budget and diversify the amount of suppliers they have so there are no disruptions to the supply chain, whether it’s coming from Mexico or Canada or from across the ocean,” said Duc Nguyen Abrahamson, APACC’s executive director. “It’s part of our mission to make sure we are making meaningful connections between the AAPI community and the business community as a whole.”
In his keynote presentation, “Resilience in Transition: Adapting to Economic Shifts and Policy Evolution,” he offered insights on navigating today’s dynamic economic landscape. He talked about circumstances that caused the business community to rely on its resilience.
Businesses, he said, have faced many challenges, from the 2007-2009 financial crisis to the Covid pandemic of 2020 to current issues revolving around diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“Many of our firms have had either downsides or reduce staff to become even more effective, more efficient,” Kieler said. “We’re challenged to try to get quarterly metrics or it can impact our market value and our capital value for organizations which can hurt us there.
“This is something we continuously need to think about,” he added. “We’re always in the fork in the road … between what’s the long-term goal and how do we respond to the short-term pressures.”
The event’s other featured speaker was Charles Elwood, the founder and AI expert at SolisMatica LLC, which helps businesses – largely in the manufacturing education and healthcare services sectors, integrate AI into their operations.
Elwood has driven innovation at companies such as Delphi Automotive and Johnson Controls, developing cutting-edge AI solutions for predictive maintenance and business informatics.
Elwood knows there’s still a lot of angst and “fear of the unknown” surrounding AI. But that fear doesn’t exist everywhere. There are places, he pointed out, where AI is welcomed.
He told the story of a trade mission he took to Singapore, where he said the use of AI is embraced successfully. That’s what he wants here.
“What keeps me up at night is I come home and I see so much fear keeping us from using the technology,” said Elwood, a Microsoft AI MVP and co-president of the West Michigan Asian American Association. “This is my home. I don’t want us to be left behind. I want to connect us with what’s possible. You have access to this technology.
“You can dream really big … You have the power to do amazing things,” he added. “So I hope you take that power and do something beautiful for the world, right? Create big impact.”
The East-West event also provided a forum for dozens of vendors to meet with the estimated 70 buyers in attendance and make national and international business connections.
It was the third time at the event for Diana Beltran, the director of language services for Multilanguage Services, Inc., a Plymouth-based firm that offers translation, interpretation and subscription services.
Beltran said APACC’s East-West event has been “very fruitful” for the company.
“It has helped us attain tremendous growth,” Beltran said. “It has given us access to buyers we wouldn’t normally have access to just by knocking on doors. They sit with you and give you a chance to pitch your services. It’s a very good event for us.”
It’s a good-enough event to convince PNC Bank to become a sponsor.
“We make some great contacts and follow-up,” said Georgia Naidus, a vice president and relationship manager for PNC. “Not everyone is here looking for a new bank, but at the same time we can follow-up and maybe then they might be unhappy with their bank and they’ll think, ‘hey, what about those women we met at that event.’”
