OCA Expands Entrepreneurship Empowerment Training Program to Atlanta

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT

Sarah Smith Nester | Communications Manager

202 223 5500 | ssmith@ocanational.org

OCA, a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), is proud to announce the expansion of its entrepreneurship training workshop series, the Entrepreneur Empowerment Training (EET) program, to the Atlanta metropolitan area.

With the generous support of State Farm® and in partnership with OCA-Georgia, the EET program will provide a limited number of full scholarships to entrepreneurs in the OCA and APA communities in the Atlanta metropolitan area to attend the Women’s Economic Development Agency’s (WEDA) acclaimed Atlanta Microenterprise Initiative (AMI).

The AMI is a comprehensive, 14-week workshop that helps emerging and new entrepreneurs learn how to start and manage a successful business, as well as how to determine funding needs and write a detailed business plan. The program will run from August through October and is valued at $650.

“Business ownership is a dream of many APAs, and the tradition of independent family businesses in the community is strong,” said OCA Executive Director George Wu . “OCA is proud to support a program that expands economic opportunity for APAs and helps them achieve their goals.”

“State Farm is pleased to provide opportunities for individuals to participate in OCA’s Entrepreneur Empowerment Training Program,” said Leslie Moe-Kaiser , corporate relations manager, State Farm. “One of our missions is to help people realize their dreams, in this case, the dream of starting one’s own business. State Farm is proud to be associated with such a worthwhile program.” 

“The number of APA-owned businesses in the U.S. has grown significantly over the past decade, and we’ve seen similar growth in the Atlanta metro area,” said OCA-Georgia President Norman Chu. “With the Entrepreneur Empowerment Training, OCA, WEDA, and State Farm are leading the APA community in supporting APA entrepreneurs.”

 “Atlanta has a significant Asian Pacific American community, and, consequently, outreach to this demographic is a natural extension of WEDA’s mission to help facilitate economic opportunities among women and other minorities, who are often underserved by ‘traditional’ economic development efforts,” said Deardra Green-Campbell, WEDA’s executive director.

The Atlanta program will launch on August 15 and last until October 31. All classes will be at the WEDA office downtown near Turner Fields. Interested participants must attend a free information session on Saturday, June 27 at WEDA. RSVP to Iimay Ho at iho@ocanational.org by June 20. More information can be found online at www.ocanational.org.