The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) is fast gaining the reputation of putting quality programs together for the benefit of Indo-American entrepreneurs. This was evident in the tremendous response IACCGH had to its monthly networking event on January 16^th, 2003 at Pavani Indian cuisine.

The evening buzzed with enthusiasm, business cards exchanged hands and attendees left with a broader knowledge of how small and medium businesses can avail of benefits usually available only to big corporations. The event guest speaker was Mr. Jeff Clark of National federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). He gave a brief insightful presentation on the benefits of NFIB. The NFIB likes to be known as the "Voice of Small Businesses". The NFIB has paid personnel to lobby on behalf of independent businesses. Lobby issues are decided on the basis of member surveys and polls. NFIB also allows businesses to avail of deep discounts in travel, shipping, insurance, business software etc. Attendees had many questions on how NFIB can help them with IRS, Health insurance, Government red tape etc. IACCGH members have a one year pre-paid membership to NFIB and the chamber is committed to giving its members a ten fold return on their investment in the chamber.

The evening also featured two member company showcases. Mr. Anil Kini of Riversand Technologies gave a ten minute presentation on his company and the services they provide to corporations. Riversand provides catalog management for buyers, catalog management for manufacturers/distributors/retailers, and product content management, an integrated platform to maintain product and services information for different business units across the enterprise, be it product/engineering divisions, sales/marketing divisions or purchasing divisions. The Chamber wishes Riversand the very best and congratulates the young Indo-Americans on their innovative company.

Personnel resources President, Ramesh Anand, gave a brief overview of the hiring and recruiting strategies his company practices. Personnel resources is a contingency search firm servicing recruiters’ requirements for human capital with customized methodologies, using the best breed of technologies. Their solutions and processes are continuously optimized to meet the demanding and dynamic requirements of recruiters and career seekers, alike. Personnel Resources specializes in servicing career seekers’ needs for an appropriate employment. He also gave tips on the dos and don’ts of hiring and firing. Ramesh is also actively involved in the community and e-tarang the electronic newsletter of India Culture Center is the results of his efforts. We wish him all the best in all his endeavors.

Last but not the least the Chamber was pleased to welcome members of the Kappa Phi Gamma sorority to this meeting. This is the only sorority which focuses on South Asia and encourages its members not only to maintain high academic standards but also to get involved in the community-at-large in service projects like Habitat for Humanity, India Earthquake relief fund, Cancer awareness etc. These talented young students and professional gave a brief overview of their organization and the projects they are involved in. The sorority is pleased to offer volunteer services to the community wherever it is needed. The Chamber congratulates these young women on their initiative and drive to make their presence known wherever they are.