Rochester New York Heralds the Joint Origins of National Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Hon. Ruby Moy, First Asian American Pacific Islander professional working in the White House, as former Chief of Staff to Congressman Frank Horton from Rochester NY, Hon. Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and founder of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus CAPAC and Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. recount their historical efforts to proudly establish legislation and Presidential proclamation designating the month of May as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

May 26, 2015 Washington DC – Thirty eight years ago, Representatives Frank Horton from Rochester NY (R-NY) and Norman Mineta (D-CA) introduced House Resolution 540 (Pacific/Asian Heritage Week) in Congress to proclaim the first ten days of May as Pacific/Asian Heritage Week now known as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. May was denoted to commemorate the first Japanese immigrant to the U.S., and also to mark the anniversary of the completion of the trans-continental railroad, the majority of the tracks laid by Chinese workers. Subsequently President Jimmy Carter signed the Joint Resolution on October 5, 1978. In 1992, President Bush signed legislation into law designating the month of May as we know now as Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Law HR-5572 originally introduced by Horton and Mineta, was unanimously approved by both the House of Representatives and Senate during the 102nd Congress.

During the first ever White House Summit on AAPIs, U.S. Surgeon Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy M.D. was installed as the new co-chair of WHIAAPI. President Obama proclaims, “The rich heritage of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders spans the world and the depths of America’s history. Generation after generation, Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders have forged a proud legacy that reflects the spirit of our Nation. During AAPI Heritage Month, we honor the perseverance of those who courageously reached for their hopes and dreams in a new land, and we celebrate the important impact the AAPI community has made to our Nation’s progress…As we commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we pay tribute to all those in the AAPI community who have striven for a brighter future for the next generation. Together, let us recommit to embracing the diversity that enriches our Nation and to ensuring all our people have an equal chance to succeed in the country we love.”

The Multicultural Edge of the Rising Super Consumer

Ken Sato, Business and Social Entrepreneur Owns and Operates Small World Foods and Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President at the iconic Wegmans Food Markets Headquarters located in Upstate Rochester New York, participate in the New York State Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council

Multicultural consumers are transforming mainstream U.S. marketplace business economy. Propelled by twin engines of population growth and expanding buying power, they are at the leading edge of converging demographic and social trends, redefining the increasingly diverse consumer marketplace. By understanding the cultural landscape that drives multicultural consumer behavior today, marketers and advertisers can anticipate future business market trends and forge long-term relationships with the most robust and fastest growing segment of the U.S. consumer economy.

THE NEW MAINSTREAM

  • African-Americans, Asian American Pacific Islanders, Latino Americans et al comprise 38% of the U.S. population with U.S. Census projections forecasting multicultural populations will become the numeric majority by 2044
  • 92% of the total growth in the U.S. population from 2000-2014 came from multicultural consumers
  • U.S. multicultural buying power is currently $3.4 trillion

MULTICULTURAL BUYING AND SUPER CONSUMERS

  • Super consumers represent top 10% of a category’s household consumers and drive minimally 30% of sales, 40% of growth and 50% of profits
  • Super geos are geographic regions and metropolitan areas with very high concentrations of Super Consumers of categories

CULTURALLY DRIVEN BEHAVIORS

  • 82% of multicultural heavy consumers actively use a smartphone vs 70% of non-multicultural counterparts
  • Multicultural heavy consumers are 32% more likely to be the stop segment of mobile users averaging 73 website visits per month and more likely to use an average of 46 apps per month

Adapted from Nielsen, An Uncommon Sense of the Consumer™ www.nielsen.com

 

 

U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy M.D. Keynote Speaker at 21st Annual APAICS Awards Gala

Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President & U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy M.D. and newly appointed Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders at the 21st Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies APAICS Annual Gala Awards Dinner celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage Month in Washington, D.C.

May 18, 2015 Washington DC – Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy M.D., M.B.A. was confirmed as the 19th U.S. Surgeon General on December 15, 2014. Dr. Murthy oversees the operations of the U.S. Public Health Services USPHS Commissioned Corps, comprised of over 6,800 uniformed health officers who serve in global locations to promote, protect and advance the health and safety of our nation. Moreover, Dr. Murthy’s announcement during the first ever White House Summit on AAPIs as Co-Chair of the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders WHIAAPI stressed the importance of connecting and mobilizing the AAPI community for collaborative goals.”We need to learn from communities across the country to make sure we’re lifting up all communities together,” Murthy remarked.

Dr. Murthy is the son of immigrants from India and discovered a love for the art of healing early in his childhood while spending time in his father’s medical clinic in Miami, Florida. He has devoted himself to improving public health through service, clinical care, research, education and entrepreneurship. Caring for patients he considers the greatest honor in his life and served thousands of patients and trained hundreds of residents and medical students as a clinician-educator.

Dr. Murthy has over two decades of perspective improving health in communities across the country and the world. He co-founded Swasthya, a community health partnership in rural India to train women to be health providers and educators. Moreover, he co-founded VISIONS, an HIV AIDS education program in India and the U.S.

Seen as a progressive leader who can use 21st century approaches and technology to modernize the role of Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy focuses efforts on building cross-sector community partnerships to resolve health issues including obesity and tobacco-related disease, reduce the stigma related to mental illness, improve vaccination rates and promote preventative health strategies. Dr. Murthy strongly believes our American nation’s greatest strength comes from its peoples. Improving the health of our peoples means strengthening our communities and our country. Unite Learn Prosper!

Konrad Ng, Director of the Asian Pacific American Center at the Smithsonian Institution, Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President and Monica Pham, Esq., U.S. House of Representatives Senior Policy Advisor celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage Month and the White House Summit on Asian American Pacific Islanders in Washington, D.C.

 

Pulitzer Prize Award Winning Journalist José Antonio Vargas states, “Our Equalities are Tied to Each Other” #EmergingUS #DefineAmerican

China Millennium Council President Mary Ho, Pulitzer Prize Award Winning Journalist José Antonio Vargas and ROC the film Entrepreneur Tom Crane at the University of Rochester Diversity Conference Discuss Social Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for a Modern America #EmergingUS #DefineAmerican

NYS LT Governor Kathy Hochul Reports Updates on 2015 Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council Program Initiatives

China Millennium Council President Mary Ho and New York State Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul Discuss the White House Initiative on Asian American Pacific Islanders WHI-AAPI Vital Business Presence and Issues Concerning AAPI involvement with the Upstate New York Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council and Governor Andrew Cuomo's 2015 New York Opportunity Agenda. AAPIs are the fastest growing minority group in America with enormous consumer impact, yet under-represented and overlooked in areas of leadership and governance.

City of Rochester Office of the Mayor, Del Smith, Commissioner of Neighborhood & Business Development, Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President and Ken Sato, City Design Lab CEO Review Submission Proposal for Urban Revitalization to boost Upstate New York's economic opportunity to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, strengthen communities and enhance tourism and quality of life. Sato is a city resident and operates an urban fermentory business.

BHG Beijing Hualian Group Investment Holding Co., LTD. Chairman Ji Xiao An Visits Wegmans Food Market USA Headquarters

Beijing Hualian Group BHG Chairman Ji Xiao An and China Millennium Council President Mary Ho Discuss the Importance of Global Innovation in the Ever-Evolving Consumer Retail Marketplace and Business Enterprise Development at the Wegmans Food Market Flagship Store in Pittsford, New York, USA

Wegmans Food Market flagship store in Pittsford New York recently launched a series of healthy home-style Chinese foods in collaboration with China’s leading hypermarket retail enterprise, the Beijing Hualian Group Investment Holding Co., LTD. BHG Chairman Ji Xiao An and his innovation team led by Frank Ji oversaw the development and training of Chinese culinary dishes for the chefs at Wegmans. Ready to eat foods emphasize authentic, nutritious and tasty dishes including Shiitake Mushroom Congée, Sichuan Style Dandan Noodles and Chinese Barbequed Pork. Catering to the ever-growing international palate of Wegman’s customers, their newly renovated Asian foods pantry now stock a wide variety of fresh Chinese youchoy and bokchoy greens, Daikon icicle radishes and select varieties of bulk long-grain and short grain rice.

BHG Beijing Hualian Group Investment Holding Co.,Ltd. is a leading multinational global enterprise as one of the 15 largest retail enterprises supported by the China Ministry of Commerce including primary membership in the International Association of Department Stores (IADS), and two publicly listed companies and several holding companies. BHG Group’s business is focused on hypermarkets, supermarkets, department stores and commercial properties. BHG is established in more than 80 hypermarkets in 35 key cities and 23 provinces across China and the Pacific Rim countries. The Beijing Hualian Group values customers first and foremost. Their core business principles include integrity in all relationships — with employees, customers, suppliers and cooperating partners. “We seek to maintain and grow our company’s high recognition and reputation, and made “Beijing Hualian” a prestigious brand in the country” and now earmarked as a prestige global brand.

China is now the fastest growing global economy, ranked second only to the U.S. as the world’s largest economy. The new visa accord established between U.S and China will enhance trade, investment, and business ties by facilitating travel and ease access to both economies.  Extended validity visas for students and exchange visitors will foster the bonds between U.S. and China and facilitate travel for outstanding students from around the world who attend U.S. institutions of higher education.  As a result of this arrangement, the U.S. hopes to welcome a growing share of eligible Chinese travelers, inject billions in the U.S. economy and create demand to support hundreds of thousands of additional U.S. jobs. Global growth of outbound travel from China represents an unprecedented opportunity to foster job creation across the country. China is the fastest growing outbound tourism market in the world, and Chinese visitors have accounted for 20 percent of the growth in overseas travel to the U.S. As incomes in China continue to rise, the number of Chinese citizens able to afford international travel and tourism is projected to more than double over the next few years, reaching the hundreds of millions.  Close to 7.3 million Chinese are projected to travel to the U.S. by 2021, contributing nearly $85 billion a year to the economy and supporting 440,000 jobs.

 

National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship ACE Leadership Delegation Convene with Congressional Leaders at The White House

Krystal Ka'ai, Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu, Representative (D-CA 27th District) and Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President Discuss Business, Healthcare and Immigration Concerns Impacting the Asian American Pacific Islander Communities nation-wide.

The National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship ACE Leadership Delegates assembled for their inaugural roundtable meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., undaunted by the recent federal government furlough, and successfully engaged dialogues with U.S. congressional leaders and White House officials. ACE serves as the national voice representing the multitude interests of the Asian American Pacific Islander business community, champion advocate and resource for the regional and local chambers of commerce, business associations and professional organizations in the U.S.

Mary Ho, China Millennium Council President and Bill Imada, Chairman of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship ACE and Chief Collaboration Officer of IW Group Inc., Convene with U.S. Congressional Leaders in Washington, D.C.

President Obama Urges American Business, Labor and Community Leaders to Support Modernization of U.S. Immigration Policy

President Obama with Vice President Biden, Addresses U.S. Business, Labor and Community Leaders including the National American Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship ACE Delegation champion Modern Immigration Reform in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on October 24, 2013

President Obama invited leaders from the business and labor sectors including community groups who are united around one goal, advancing and modernizing the current U.S. immigration system. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a bill with bipartisan support that addresses “the core challenges of how we create a immigration system that is fair, that’s just, that is true to our traditions as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.”

By modernizing the U.S. legal immigration system, the capability to train future American workers grows exponentially, and in attracting and retaining entrepreneurs with high skill sets from beyond our borders can only enrich the business growth of the U.S., critical to its long term growth and sustainability. It would make sure that everybody plays by the same rules by providing a pathway to earned citizenship for those who are here illegally — one that includes passing a background check, learning English, paying taxes, paying a penalty, getting in line behind everyone who is trying to come here the right way.

More importantly, if the bill was passed and became law, it would grow the U.S. economy by $1.4 trillion over the next two decades while cutting the deficit by nearly $1 trillion. Awesome!

Former Commissioner of the Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Stuart Ishimaru, Director of the Office of Minority & Women Inclusion of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Mary Ho, President of the China Millennium Council Discuss Critical Issues Affecting the Healthcare Reforms for the Asian American Pacific Islander Population, in the East Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Asian American Leadership Heralds Global Business & Humanitarian Community Impact

Social Entrepreneur Pamela Roberts Levitt, China Millennium Council President Mary Ho, and Wegmans Food Markets Senior Vice President Larry Damore & wife Gail Damore Celebrate the Asian American Global Business and Community Leadership in Greater Rochester Upstate New York Region