Houston, TX, August 10, 2004 - The month of August has seen the IACCGH networking activities heat up with three networking events for members.

On Wednesday August 4^th, 2004 the IACCGH hosted its Mid-Summer Networking Dinner – 2004 at Pavani Indian Restaurant . The event   gave the Chamber the opportunity to introduce its new members who included Mel Gross of “ Mel Gross Financial Services” and Swapan Dharyawan, CPA. It was a great networking opportunity and members of the British American Business Council, Italian Chamber of Commerce and other IACCGH members were able to trade business cards and look for possible business opportunities. The Italian Chamber also brought a group of Italian interns who loved the Indian food. If you would like to join us for our next networking event please contact us at iaccgh01@aol.com or call 713 624 7131.

On August 5^th 2004 the IACCGH participated in the “sixth annual talking stick supplier diversity luncheon” hosted by the Native American Chamber of Commerce. Talking Stick is an ancient, proven way to communicate, practiced by the Native Indian People for thousands of years.  The tradition goes that, whoever is holding the Talking Stick, has the floor and the full attention of the group. 

The NACC have incorporated this idea into the modern day business world, and it actually works quite well.  They had 16 corporations who had committed to attend and participate in Talking Stick, this year, and 61 small, medium, and large Native American-owned, as well as other minority-owned businesses.  Seated at large round tables, each attendee had several opportunities to tell everyone what products and services they sell-what they buy---and how to do business with them.  Everyone had many excellent opportunities to network with the 200 buyers and sellers who participated.  Participating Corporations included HEB, Wal-Mart,  Bank 2,  Hewlett Packard, Lockheed Martin, Duke Energy, Port of Houston Authority, IBM Corporation, BMC Software, JP Morgan/Chase, United Parcel Service, Chickasaw Distributors, Indian Rubber Company, Epic Systems, IDRESCO, and Kerr McGee. 

The next networking opportunity for IACCGH members will be an IACCGH-EMG sponsored Diversity Program at Houston Technology Center on August 31^st at 6.00pm .The address is 410 Pierce in downtown Houston. This program will feature the Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE). The topic of the seminar will be “How can SCORE help Minority Entrepreneurs?” and the presenters will be SCORE District Director Irwin Miller and Raj Mashruwala SCORE Management Counselor.

About SCORE:

·        Score: Counselors to America’s Small Business, is one of the oldest non-profit organization with a mission to help small businesses succeed.  This year

·        celebrated 40^th anniversary and to-date, have served over six million people nationally.

·        Mission is to help small businesses succeed.  Accomplish this mission by educating, counseling and mentoring the budding entrepreneurs. 

·        Volunteers are real world professionals who donate their services so SCORE can provide counseling and mentoring free of charge. 

·        SCORE does charge a small fee for the seminar and workshops to cover our costs.

SCORE are a resource partner of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and work very closely with SBA and major banks in Houston to help deserving entrepreneurs get the necessary funding to successfully start their business.

They have a well-stocked library with plans for many businesses, and we have embraced the internet trend.  Visit www.Score.com for more information on how Score can help your small business.

To learn more about the IACCGH visit www.iaccgh.com and to register for the SCORE event on August 31^st please call Mondira at 713 624 7131 or by email at iaccgh01@aol.com