The Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay already has 200 members.
By SHANNON TAN
Published March 30, 2004
Two months ago, Claire Joshi was a Clearwater homemaker. Then she heard about a Filipino grocery store in Tampa that was for sale. She bought the store, and has since invested $10,000 in savings to open her first business.
Now, the 24-year-old works seven days a week selling groceries from her native Philippines out of the store at 13934 Hillsborough Ave., west of the Town 'N Country area.
Joshi wanted to let people know about her grocery store and find other Filipinos who could help her jump-start her business. Through a friend she discovered the newly formed Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay. The group, which started two months ago, already has 200 Filipino and non-Filipino members ranging from hairstylists to bankers.
"It's about time, they kept saying," said founder Paul Beraquit, 44. "We desperately need this."
With about 15,000 Filipinos in the Tampa Bay area, the community has reached critical mass, Beraquit said. It was time to organize and promote Filipino businesses.
Florida's growing Filipino population has created new entrepreneurs and an emerging business community. While there are businesses catering to the needs of the Filipino community, such as grocery stores and restaurants, they also have made substantial inroads into corporate America in general.
But there's no directory of Filipino businesses - a resource the chamber will make available to the community.
Roland Young, who is Filipino, says he would benefit from a directory of Filipino businesses.
"I would rather go to somebody who's a Filipino because the trust is right there," said Young, 57, of Lutz. "It's easier to communicate."
Many Asian professionals and business owners are new to the United States or Florida. They might not know about applying for small business loans from the government, or that they need to get licensed.
Sure, they could get that information from local chambers of commerce. But they would not be able to find out about Filipino social functions, who the community leaders are or what Filipino churches to go to.
Through word of mouth, they might find out about one of the dozen cultural organizations. But those social groups are largely divided according to a person's hometown in the Philippines.
"There will be no boundaries in this organization," said Young. "You don't have to belong to a certain region (of the Philippines) to be a member."
The chamber's motto: Kababayans helping Kababayans, which is Filipino for "countrymen helping countrymen."
"Hopefully this will be the common platform most of the Filipinos will use to unite themselves," said Young, who is semiretired and works in the financial industry.
The chamber also wants to help educate consumers to become better buyers. Members will hold seminars on such topics as buying a home and purchasing health insurance.
In June, the chamber will hold an awards dinner to acknowledge young Filipino professionals who recently graduated from college. The group plans to offer scholarships and internships for Filipino students.
The official kickoff for the Filipino chamber is during PhilFest, the Philippine Cultural Foundation's annual celebration set for Friday through Sunday at Bayanihan Arts Center, 14301 Nine Eagles Dr., Tampa.
The networking, though, has already yielded results. Since Beraquit started the chamber, he has hired five individual members of the chamber for his company, Paragon Mortgage, which has offices in St. Petersburg, Tampa and New Port Richey. The group also plans to form an alliance with the 1,200-member Indo-U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Tampa.
"All of us fight the same battles," said Dilip Kanji, 45, who helped found the Indian chamber in Tampa five years ago.
"We need to get together on the same platform to fight the challenges in doing business every day."
In the next six months, the Vietnamese community plans to form its own chamber of commerce. The Asian groups hope to become a major force in the business community.
Dave Nguyen, a board member of both the Filipino and Indian chambers, estimates there are 500 Vietnamese business owners in the area.
It makes sense for the groups to work together "in a friendly, competitive way," said Nguyen, 41, a financial adviser.
About 22 percent of businesses in Florida are owned by women or minorities, which includes Asians, compared with 14.6 percent nationwide, according to a 1997 U.S. Census study.
There are 3-million minority-owned firms in the United States, including nearly 26,000 in the Tampa Bay area. By sharing their experiences and knowledge among themselves, business owners will be able to get themselves "up to the speed of doing business in America," Nguyen said.
Take Joshi, who owns the Philippine Grocery in Tampa. Years ago she worked as a cashier at her parents' wholesale business in the Philippines, and this is her first business on her own. She is seven months pregnant, and her husband and mother help out.
Joshi plans to distribute fliers at PhilFest and advertise in the chamber's directory. "I think the chamber of commerce is basically helping us out, letting people know I'm here," she said.
To contact the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce, call 813936-5100 or (727)815-1100. For more information on the Indo-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, visit www.indo-us.org
