Background
The Ethnic Chamber of Commerce Coalition (ECCC) traces its origin with several ethnic chambers working together since 2009 under the leadership of Dr. Skip Rowland, an Executive Director of the Urban Enterprise Center (UEC).
We were involved with the implementation of the Viaduct project and instrumental in the inclusion of a required allocation of minority businesses. From that beginning, we continued the collaboration recognizing the need to provide a voice to the Asian American, Latino, minority and immigrant community in Seattle.
The ECCC came together because separately our voices were not heard. Even though we belonged to other larger better-known organizations claiming to represent the ethnic communities interests, programs and resources inevitably defaulted to advancing the need for large corporate businesses. This overshadowed the needs of our communities and our small business owners.
2014 census estimates 625,000 Asian Americans and NHPI live in the Seattle MSA along with 350,000 Latino's. Collectively this community represents 39,000 businesses in the Seattle MSA.
Mission
Ethnic Chambers in Washington State formed the ECCC to give a unified voice in their communities. Education, health, and business are our top three focus, but they cover a wide range of concerns.
Our mission is...
- To promote the development and sharing of activities among ethnic chamber of commerce organizations.
- To inform and educate the ethnic business community about current policy changes that may impact their businesses.
- To participate in the discussion with government entities that may impact the ethnic business.