About CNPPCollaborating Together to Connect Small Business Owners with Critical Services
The Community Navigation Pilot Program (CNPP) was established by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The SBA launched the CNP Program to strengthen outreach to underserved businesses by partnering with organizations with deep roots in their communities. This approach was designed to help the small businesses, with a focus on those owned by veterans, women, and socially and economically disadvantaged individuals — including in rural and urban communities that had been hit the hardest by COVID-19 pandemic and severe economic impacts. The program is comprised of a lead “Hub” at the center of a network of “Spoke” organizations that deploy community advocates to work with small businesses during economic recovery. Recovery services can include financial assistance, access to capital supports, contracting and procurement assistance, marketing, operations, and business development, export and importing, and industry specific training, among other areas of technical assistance to aid businesses in stabilization and expansion.
On a national basis and focused on five regional service markets, USPAACC, headquartered in Washington DC, has enlisted fifteen trusted, culturally, and technically knowledgeable partners to do targeted outreach to underserved Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and their entrepreneurial community. USPAACC as the Hub and Tier 1 Grantee, will manage and lead our network of Spokes in California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, and Texas. The USPAACC designated CNPP staff, and the Spoke designated staff have decades of experience working with and providing outreach, advocacy, and training to the AAPI and other underserved communities. Nationally, because many AAPI small businesses are operated by new immigrants, the language barrier is still a major deterrent to their understanding of social programs, technologies and what the Small Business Administration has to offer. This dedicated group will work together in the Hub and Spoke model as community ambassadors with in-language capabilities in English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Taiwanese, Fujianese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino and Hindi. Each Spoke has unique and specialized capabilities and are grounded within their communities providing excellent work to small businesses for many years.
Meet the Team
Tracy Balazs Project Director
As the Project Director for the USPAACC Tier 1 Grant, I am thrilled to work with our dedicated Spokes to support the underserved AAPI businesses in our regions. I bring over 20 years of working with the federal government and the SBA having owned and led a healthcare federal contracting small business.
Grace Sooyeon Hunter Project Lead
I am a Project Lead for the USPAACC Community Navigation Pilot Program. I speak fluent Korean and English. I support and monitor Spokes’ progress toward achieving our shared goal of assisting underserved small businesses.
Shirley Collins Project Lead
Trilingual in Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin. Love food, travel, and yoga. Professional in digital marketing and online advertising. Passionate in business, data analyze and coding. Joined CNPP in Jan2022, look forward to supporting more Asian businesses.
Kevin Nguyen Data System Specialist
With over 7 years of database and systems management, it is an honor to be part of the Community Navigator Pilot Program as the Database System Specialist. I am bilingual in Vietnamese and English with a passion for music and culture. I hope to be of service to the underserved communities.
About USPAACC
With a mission to be the single unified voice advocating equal opportunities for Pan Asian American/AAPI businesses, the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation and our partners through the recently awarded the U.S. Small Business Administration Tier -1 Community Navigation Pilot Program (CNPP) Grant, will focus on 5 regional service markets. It will focus on underserved and unserved Pan Asian American businesses. Through this collaboration with 12 trusted, culturally, and technically knowledgeable partners, our goal is to connect business owners in those communities with critical services and assistance programs.
USPAACC, with corporate headquarters in Washington DC, will be the Hub where leadership and implementation of the CNPP, will connect with our dedicated national network of Spokes in California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas.
With the business and financial advisory support and expertise in market entry of our community partners to the Pan Asian American/AAPI business community, this collaboration will help these businesses bounce back after the financial instability caused by the pandemic. USPAACC will communicate with them in their language to assist in understanding, training for and cultivating the skills needed for development and growth; and through technology and advisement, gain the ability to cut through the red tapes, develop confidence, trust and find their voice.