Wells Fargo Announces Lending Milestone and Honors Three Asian Business Owners

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Wells Fargo Asian Business Services announced today it has reached its 10-year goal to lend $3 billion to Asian business owners nationwide -- three years ahead of schedule. The goal was established at the program’s inception in 2002. The company also announced they have expanded the goal to $5 billion by the end of 2013. Wells Fargo’s Asian Business Services program works closely with key community alliances to provide education and outreach to Asian businesses.

"Wells Fargo is proud to celebrate the success of the Asian business community,” said Patrick Yalung, regional president for the company’s Washington region and national spokesperson for Wells Fargo’s Asian Business Services. "This Wells Fargo milestone is a testament to the contributions and success of Asian American business owners in their communities.”

The lending milestone achievement and new lending goal will be highlighted during the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation’s (USPAACC– EF) 24^th annual CelebrASIAN Business Opportunity Conference, May 20-22 in New York. At the national event, CelebrASIAN ’09 - "Business Beyond Boundaries: Turning Challenges into Opportunities,” Wells Fargo and USPAACC-EF will recognize three Asian business owners with the 6^th Annual USPAACC-EF/Wells Fargo Asian Business Leadership Award. Each winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize and trophy.

The winners were selected from a nationwide pool of applicants and evaluated based on their business vision, success and community contributions. This year’s winners are:

• Topline Products Company Inc., based in Wayne, NJ, supplies cosmetics, fragrances and packaging products to the cosmetics and fragrances industries. Established in 1975, the company’s services range from providing product packaging to full turnkey services to its customers. The company, which was ranked as New Jersey’s seventh-fastest growing company in 2008 by New Jersey Business Journal, established a Packaging Innovation Competition Award for college students. President Charles T. Chang will be honored.
• Lori S. C. Yokoyama & Associates P.C., based in Chicago, is a full-service law firm specializing in corporate transactions and civil litigation. Founded in 2000, and solely-owned by Yokoyama, the firm consists of eight Asian Americans and has successfully represented clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to individuals on a pro bono basis. Principal Lori S. Yokoyama will be honored.
• AppleSeed Montessori Inc., based in Sunnyvale, CA, was founded in 1996 by three biological sisters, Lynda Brown (Executive Director), Diane Chen Hsu (School Administrator) and Alice Huang (Chief Financial Officer) who oversee the operation of six schools in California, offering programs inspired by the Montessori philosophy. The schools foster a thoughtful, open-minded student body focused on qualitative reasoning, social acumen, and multi-cultural awareness. The sisters will be honored.

"The winners of this year’s Asian Business Leadership award exemplify the spirit of the award,” said Yalung. "These businesses provide different types of products and services and represent the wide range of contributions Asian business owners make to the U.S. economy.”

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,400 stores, over 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.

Wells Fargo is America’s #1 small business lender in total Dollar volume according to the most recent Community Reinvestment Act data (2007) and the #1 SBA 7a national bank lender in total dollar volume (2008). Wells Fargo has loaned close to $39 billion to women, African American, Latino and Asian business owners since 1995. For more information, speak with a Wells Fargo banker, visit wellsfargo.com/biz or call the National Business Banking Center at 1-800-CALL-WELLS.

About USPAACC-EF

The US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce EF (USPAACC-EF) was formed in 1984 as a national non-profit organization representing all Asian Americans and Asian American-related groups in business. For the past two decades, USPAACC-EF has been promoting, nurturing and propelling economic growth by opening doors of contract, educational and professional opportunities for Asian Americans and their business partners in corporate America, the federal government, and the minority business community.

USPAACC-EF regularly holds Business Connections across the country to address issues that are important to the Asian American business community. USPAACC-EF also certifies Asian American-owned businesses and is a unique one-stop shop where Asian American suppliers increase their contacts and sales, and corporate and government purchasers diversify their supplier base. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., USPAACC-EF has a nationwide presence through its seven regional chapters in Northern California and Southern California, New York, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, and Washington DC-Virginia-Maryland in the National Capital Area.