Ritu Jha–
Indian American Harbir Bhatia, who took over as CEO at the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce in June this year wanted to reach out to the community and help promote small businesses says the primary goal of hosting the “Festival of Lights” was first to celebrate a very important festival and holiday for a significant portion of the Silicon Valley. In addition, it was to foster community unity, celebrating diversity and inclusion while showcasing the strength of our local businesses and the overall local economy.
The first-of-its-kind fair with over 40 booths, brought in many women who run home-based businesses as well as mainstream businesses who want to connect to the South Asian community.
When indica asked Bhatia do they wanted small businesses to be members of the chamber said, “Yes, we warmly welcome small businesses to become members of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce.”
“We recognize the vital role small businesses play in our community and have created a new membership category tailored to the specific needs of small home-based businesses. This category is designed to be more accessible for small startups or home-based businesses, offering them valuable resources, extensive networking opportunities, and the support of fellow small businesses facing similar challenges. We are committed to helping them thrive within our chamber,”
Bhatia, a long-time member of SVCCC and her role of CEO encompasses providing strategic leadership, overseeing day-to-day operations, and advancing the chamber’s mission to support local businesses and the community.
The position is not term-based and focuses on driving long-term growth and success for the chamber.
The Festival of Light was held at India Community Center on Sunday, Oct 29, and many high schoolers were also part of the event, helping Bhatia to host the festival.
Bhatia told indica she wants to bring in not just businesses but Indian American youths as well.
“Youth play a critical role in the development of a healthy and thriving economy,” Bhatia said. “They represent the future, and it’s our responsibility to provide them with the necessary opportunities and platforms for growth,” she . By focusing on initiatives that foster entrepreneurship, connect young professionals to opportunities, and prepare them for the challenges of tomorrow, we aim to create a strong pipeline for the next generation, ensuring the long-term prosperity of our community and businesses. As both are needed.”
So do believe Brian Weisfeld, Founder and Chief Squad Officer of The Startup Squad, who had his booth at the festival told indica, he seeks to inspire children, especially girls, to move on from the tales of princesses and dream bigger — more in tune with the real world.
“Startup Squad is a Macmillan-published novel series to get kids, primarily girls, interested in entrepreneurship, non-profit where we teach entrepreneurship to girls and underserved communities,” Weisfeld told indica.
Part of the reason why he took up this initiative to change the narrative of inspirational stories for children is: “I have two daughters, and I got tired of all the princess, rainbow fairy, unicorn nonsense that gets peddled to girls. I see a lot of parents are excited for the same reason, they want empowering things for their kids, especially their daughters, instead of things that talk down to them.”
That was part of the reason why he created this series – to empower girls. “The idea is not that every girl should grow up to be an entrepreneur, but I just feel strongly that and I’ve seen it with my daughters that just a simple lemonade stand teaches girls to take a risk and to deal with rejection and deal with failure and to see opportunities instead of problems and learn how to look people in the eye and come up with a sales pitch. And these are life lessons through a simple business.”
“It’s not that we think that every girl should grow up to be an entrepreneur, but we feel so strongly that those that can think like entrepreneurs who are comfortable with risk and not afraid to fail, they’ll be better doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, moms and whatever they want to be,” Weisfeld added.
The book series is for kids of 7 to 13 years of age, depending upon reading level. Weisfeld says that he wants to catch them early and “get them thinking from a very simple business”.
And the response from the South Asian community has been wonderful. “There’s a lot of interest in empowering things for girls. And it’s been great to be here and meet all these new people. The parents asked me about the inspiration behind the book series, where my idea came from, and how the books were created. They also asked about what my daughters are doing,” Weisfeld added.
Avi Gingold, LegalShield & ID Shield on chamber reaching out to the South Asian community said , “As an ambassador for the Silicon Valley Central Chamber, it’s very important to support our small businesses. We are going through some challenging and difficult times, and we
really need to have access to resources so we can sustain our situation and grow. Every small business needs to have a coach, a good financial person, a good insurance person, a good CPA, a good accountant, and a good lawyer around them, but those resources are usually quite expensive, and small businesses cannot afford to have them,” Gingold told indica.
“LegalShield provides an umbrella of legal services for small businesses. For a small monthly fee, they can have access to legal counsellors to help them with anything in their business, from contracts, reviews, or letters written on their behalf, or just getting advice so they can be preventive and proactive, and empowered to make better decisions in life. And that’s something that every business needs these days, because we live in the most strategic
society in the world, and unfortunately, everything has to do with legal. Whether you sign a contract, whether you hire an employee, you hire a subcontractor, you need to sign a lease on a house, you need to buy equipment, all these are legal decisions. However, most small business owners don’t think about having an attorney review that paper before they sign it because they cannot justify the cost. We make it available for them so they can have access to that resource without having to worry about the cost,” he added.
Gingold has already got many clients from the Indian American community. “The Indian community is very contributing. Our clients include many of them that are members of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber, and we are all looking forward to helping them out, whether it’s through the resources of the chamber, connecting them with businesses, connecting them with resources, as well as individual resources that are available,” he told indica.
Bhatia reiterates that the chamber is her because “we need to be where people are and where the businesses are. As they are both dependent on each other. Businesses and entrepreneurs are one of the most important contributors in society. We want to help businesses grow and shape Silicon Valley. So, we can create a thriving community
for all.”
Joe Siencinski, Vice Chair, brainSHARE and former chairman of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce or Central Chamber of Commerce who had his booth at te festival told indica, “We want to work with the local communities to help the businesses because our
economy is based on small business. That’s what we’re here for, to help businesses become successful in whatever manner with the connections, education, and advocacy that are needed.”
“The diversity in the community now has just continued to expand, just like our community has continued to expand. The diversity comes not only from an ethnic standpoint but a thinking standpoint. A lot of the younger generation that’s coming up thinks differently, and that’s what diversity is all about. It’s how you think, and that’s what adds power to the different organizations. We get a lot of people from outside. Like, we had the Vietnamese community contact us and we do a lot of work with the US-China Chamber of Commerce. It’s all about bringing in the people and helping make the connections with others to help businesses flourish.”
Siencinski has been helping budding entrepreneurs to fulfill their aspirations for almost 15 years and he has mentored over 100 South Asians. According to him, the biggest challenge that a newbie in the sector faces is the goal-setting and planning process. “There’s a big difference between an entrepreneur and a want-to-preneur. They say they want to be an entrepreneur but are they willing to do the work that it takes to create a business that works without you? If you want to earn more, you have to learn more to know where you’re going, and
what your goals are. And, a goal without a plan is just a dream. So put your plans in place. If you’re not sure how to do it, that’s what I’m here for.”
Larry Klein, Mayor of Sunnyvale told indica on joining the festival, “I am always honored and excited to celebrate this joyous festival of lights. The Bay Area has a very diverse community, and it’s events like this one which make me proud of my community. It’s a privilege to be included in this special celebration of light over darkness, especially with all of the trouble that is happening around the world. I am overjoyed to see how Diwali brings different members of community together, and I thank the Silicon Valley Central Chamber for organizing the special event.”
Hon Lien – Milpitas City Council, told indica, “It is so wonderful to see all the community members, especially Indian community members, come together to celebrate. This wonderful event showcased unity and togetherness. We care and love one another. Especially right now in
the world, we have just so many heartache problems that we need to shed light and have light prevail so that we can push away all the darkness. This will give our lives happiness, peace, love, and light.”
Adding on she said, “The Chamber of Commerce in Milpitas is very supportive of all ethnic groups. I’m a member of the Rotary Club and we are in a city that believes in supporting each other, we’re a very close-knit city.“
