The Year of the Tiger is here and a recent luncheon held by the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce suggests it is off to a grand start. At the luncheon, members conversed not about the recession or the real estate market, but about relationships and commerce.

“This is the time to go back to basics,” said Vida Chan Lin, the chamber’s newly elected president and the first woman to hold the position.

Lin moved to Las Vegas in 1994 and launched V&J Insurance, which serves the Asian and minority communities. Her previous achievements at the chamber include bringing the Organization for Chinese Americans national convention and the National Asian Pacific American Corporate Achievement Awards to Las Vegas.

Bank of Nevada
Since the Las Vegas Asian Chamber’s inception in 1986, much has changed. Chinatown has grown from just three blocks to more than four miles along Spring Mountain Road; it now merges into Korea Town. With a major influx of Asians moving to Las Vegas during the real estate boom, the community has become a much sought-after political bloc and a lucrative market for businesses.

Lin’s plans for the chamber continue to be ambitious. The organization is joining forces with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and the state of Nevada to set up a trip the World Expo in Shanghai in early September, she said. The authority already has an office there and is considering other Asian destinations for offices.

“For many businesses, we serve as a gateway to both the United States and the Asian nations,” Asian Chamber Executive Director Duy Nguyen said. “That is one of our strengths.”

Supporting the local Asian community remains the chamber’s focus. In response to the economic crisis, the group has hosted a number of foreign language business seminars, all free and available in Chinese and Korean.

“We are constantly looking for ways to bring value to our members and help them realize their business and personal potential,” Nguyen said.

During the luncheon, which took place at Palace Station, a presentation by Christopher Way, digital media director for KLAS-TV, Channel 8, dealt with leveraging social media for business growth. He pointed out that in a “people-driven economy,” personal connections gain new value in cyberspace.

“It’s very much like a family (the chamber membership), and that’s partially because our lives get intertwined on both professional and personal level,” said Daniel Cho, senior account executive for Telepacific Communications and a five-year chamber member.

Cho says this family vibe may be a reason the organization lost fewer members during the recession than other chambers. The local Asian Chamber is also starting to see an increase in new members, including people who aren’t Asian but would like to explore the local Asian marketplace.

Lin says that with such new vibrancy in the chamber, and with the worst being over for the local economy, a year of success is in order.

“This is the year of the Tiger,” she said. “It is time to be focused, to work together, to get into the positive energy and leap forward.”

The Asian Chamber is holding it’s next event on March 25 at Palace Station. Visit