Kristelle Siarza is a social media and marketing freelancer that can provide help on planning, brainstorming, and monitoring. For more information, please visit her website at http://www.about.me/misskristelle or send her an email at kristellesiarza@gmail.com My future concept; The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico. This plan has been paused due to funding and the need for further research. Please email me if you're interested in hearing more about this project.

1. Kristelle Siarza
Wayland Baptist University

2. 2 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
The Organization
The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico is a membership organization formed
by Asian American business and employers, with the ideology of integrating Asian Americans into all aspects
of business. Driven by a board of directors that are representative of the Asian American business
community of New Mexico, the organization will focus its efforts in carrying out membership expectations.
With endorsement by the Asian American Association of New Mexico and the support of diverse ethnicities,
the Asian American chamber will have four main focus areas to frame the organization and its mission.
1) Economic Development
a. Employers – AACCNM will consist of member businesses that represent integration of
Asian Americans in all levels of business. These member businesses will symbolize diversity
in New Mexico businesses and will help position New Mexico as an ideal location for
businesses to relocate.
b. Employees – AACCNM will consist of member businesses that hire Asian Americans in
both blue collar and white color jobs. Because of their reputation of being a highly educated
demographic, AACCNM will encourage employers to hire those of the Asian Americans for
all positions within companies. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, Asian Americans
over the age of 25 have the highest amount of citizens holding higher level education
degrees (undergraduate to graduate) in its population class. “The Asian-American population
25 years and over equals 797 million, of which a high school education and above includes a
ratio of 86.8%. Asians obtain the proportion of bachelor degree or above 49.4%, placing
them over all ethnic groups.” (Asian Americans, 2011)
c. Policy – As policy often affects economic development and day to day business operations,
AACCNM will lobby and promote business policies that are specifically within the goals of
the organization and its member businesses. AACCNM will not represent all issues that
affect business in the state of New Mexico. The organization will be selective in its policy
support national, locally, and state wide.
2) Education
a. Scholarship – AACCNM members will promote education as the foundation of successful
business practices and ethics. Members will promote education through scholarship and
volunteerism.

3. 3 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
b. Workshops, Events, and Programs – AACCNM will conduct educational seminars and
workshops that will be low cost for businesses and effective for employers and employees.
The educational topics will be chosen by its members.
3) Small Business
a. AACCNM will focus on small business support. This will include marketing, organizational
management, human resource, and financial support. Training and education for small
businesses will come from industry professionals that are members of the organization.
4) Travel and Tourism
a. With strategic partnerships that support travel, tourism, and hospitality to the entire state of
New Mexico, AACCNM will encourage national Asian American oriented organizations to
visit or conduct convention business in the Land of Enchantment. By doing so, this would
lead many businesses or organizations to consider relocating to the area.
b. As there is a diverse history of Asian Americans in New Mexico, AACCNM would
encourage transient visitors to come to New Mexico and enjoy the many tourist destinations,
such as Santa Fe, White Sands, Carlsbad, and more.
Target Market
The Shapiro Group conducted a random qualitative study that measured specific company traits that
were perceived to be effective business strategies. According to a study conducted by the Shapiro Group,
“Most consumers (59%) think that being active in the local chamber of commerce is an effective business
strategy overall.” (Shapiro Group, 2011) The study goes on to prove that community involvement, employee
volunteerism, and activity within a chamber of commerce are all important traits that effectively communicate
specific traits about a company.

4. 4 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
The target market of AACCNM is organizational businesses that have a corporate model to
participate in community volunteerism. Seeking socially responsible organizations will create several
standards for AACCNM:
1) Volunteer support - Like any other non-profit, the AACCNM will need volunteers to help run and
operate the organization. This helps grow member participation and strength in AACCNM because
the member organizations will have proven track records of employees that can volunteer their time
to the organization.
2) Preventing unachievable expectations – As economic development is a focus area of AACCNM,
economic development can be mistaken as “Growing my business by 50%.” By setting member
expectations on a socially responsible standard, member business can first build a common ground
of community first before expecting revenue growth for their business.
By targeting this non-traditional target market of commercial business organizations or non-profits,
this will establish an estimated size of 300 businesses. Because the largest 501-(c) 6 business organization in
the state of New Mexico is estimated to have 1,500 businesses in the state of New Mexico, (Cole, 2011) 20%
of businesses are likely to be involved in volunteering or business development through relationship building.
Because the target market is so small, the buying situation is very centralized and commonly has one buyer
that makes the decision to join the organization. In challenging economic times, community organizations

5. 5 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
that pose no potential benefit for their business are often a modified re-buy process, but by targeting
businesses that have expectations of community volunteerism and civic engagement, a straight rebuy is most
likely to happen because of the “good faith” attitude the member will have for AACCNM. Since our
organization will heavily rely on recruitment through referrals and sales people, our company will aim to have
interpersonal relationships with members.
Of the 300 potential businesses, the segmented markets are businesses that are either Asian American
owned or employ a large amount of Asian Americans. Because community volunteerism can cost companies
time and money, their qualifying dimension would be the amount of expendable funds a company has after
paying for operational and investment costs. The markets are broken into three types of potential markets:
1) Service businesses (Nail or salon technicians, restaurants, or food suppliers)
a. Commonly without extra expendable resources
2) Local medium-large sized business (Family owned businesses with more than 10 employees)
a. Often able to provide volunteers rather than cash
3) Corporations (Photovoltaics, laboratories, government contractors)
a. Corporate marketing budgets include donations and charitable contributions
Goals of the Organization
The goal of the organization is to bring the Asian American business community under the four
main focus areas and execute initiatives established by the membership. The core qualifying dimensions are
the target market dimension as mentioned above. Some of the basic qualitative dimensions are the Asian
population, average monthly revenue over $20,000, the geographical state of New Mexico, and service based
benefits that will help member businesses grow.
Competitor Analysis
The current direct competition to the Asian American Chamber of Commerce would be the Greater
Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, the Rio Rancho Chamber of Commerce, the Albuquerque Hispano
Chamber of Commerce, the Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, and the Association of Commerce and
Industry. These groups have large membership numbers and have a heavily influence in many aspects of

6. 6 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
business in New Mexico. The indirect competition is cultural chambers, including the African American
Chamber of Albuquerque and the Native American Chamber of Commerce. These two organizations have
exclusivity to their certain ethnic population that does not make them directly competitive with the
organization.
The competitive disadvantage would be the competition set of the ABQ Chamber, Rio Rancho
Chamber, the ABQ Hispano Chamber, ACI, and the Las Cruces Chamber. They are well known in their
respective communities as the designated organization that brings credibility behind the brand of the
chamber. However, the competitive advantage of AACCNM is the diversity and background of volunteers
and the integration factor. Many will see that Asian Americans have many ethnic components to the race,
(i.e. Indian, Thai, Filipino) so the background of Asian businesses will be diverse and competitive.
Product
As the organization would provide
support, this product would fall into the business
product class of professional services. Because the
organization will provide assistance in the form of
networking, workshops, and customer service, the
organization is not a tangible service. AACCNM
would not have brand equity to its competition
because it would be so new to the market, but
would strive to build customer trust through quality customer service.
AACCNM will have an easily identifiable brand logo that is clean, monochromatic, and
contemporary. This reflects the non-traditional methods of operating a chamber. By predominantly using the
internet and interpersonal sales calls to reach members, AACCNM will have open communication channels
to show availability to its members. Because brand familiarity will be small in the beginning phases of the

7. 7 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
organization and AACCNM would be in its introductory phase when the organization begins. In order to
move the product into an early adoption phase, key AACCNM founding members would market the
organization by word of mouth and become influential in the recruitment process.
Place
Although the organization will be a grass roots effort that will gain exposure in many ways than one,
AACCNM will ideally be selective in its market exposure because of its potential customer and membership
base. Because the Asian American population is small, a selective market exposure would be ideal.
However, a very prominent district in Albuquerque will be the ideal location for AACCNM.
Dubbed the International District, the area has many Asian American businesses. (ABQJournal.com, 2009)
Albuquerque is also known for being the largest area for commerce, so the International District of
Albuquerque would be the ideal location to conduct AACCNM business.
The customer service is imperative to the success of the organization. Because businesses hold high
standards for customer service for the final consumer, the organization must listen to members and deliver
results for their needs. Although there is no formal distribution channel, there would be two ways for the
organization to push information and services that are vital for businesses: the website and community
relationship managers. Community relationship managers would be “order takers” in the sales process, but
they would be individuals specializing in geographical areas, cultural awareness, and the four focus areas of
the organization. These special skills will improve the customer service AACCNM would be able to provide
member businesses resources that would generate non-dues revenue for the organization. The website
would be comprehensive and directed towards providing vital information. By having a solid website
structured for easy navigation, quality customer service is achieved by making member interaction on the
website easy and convenient. With a fully functional website and relationship managers dedicated to customer
service, the intangible place and distribution of AACCNM will thrive.
Promotion

8. 8 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
Identifying the target market takes research and relationship building, and advertising and sales
promotions may not effectively find quality members that would renew every time. In order to effectively
promote AACCNM, the organization must train and heavily promote an effective sales team who would be
titled as “membership recruiters.” The sales strategy must use the following sales process:
1) Identify: Membership recruiters must do research in respective communities to find key market segments
that are already participating in the community or are looking to do so.
2) Ask for needs: When the appointment is secured, recruiters must ask the correct questions to identify the
company’s needs and wants. By doing so, the recruiters can relay the needs to the community
relationship managers to properly deliver expectations. If expectations are high, the recruiters must judge
if the member would be a good fit for the organization.
3) Ask for the close: AACCNM sales people must find ways to address needs and concerns by showing how
the organization can meet or exceed their expectations. Recruiters can partner with current members or
community relationship managers to help engage the newly recruited member in the organizations
volunteerism or non-dues revenue generating programs.
4) Follow-up: As a form of retention after the membership has been accepted, community relationship
managers must enroll the member in programs or offer any incentives or perks that AACCNM may
offer. This begins the retention cycle.

9. 9 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
As a form of promotion, retention is vital to the organization’s success. Carried out by the
community managers, the retention cycle are modeled in quarterly phases.
Q1
Collections
Q2 /Q3
Q4
Dues Retention Member
Outreach
Q3/Q4
Recruitment
From quarters two to three, these important tasks must be achieved in a timeframe after AACCNM
enrollment.
3 months after becoming a member – Meet and Reach out to the Membership
AACCNM volunteers can meet and reach out to the current membership through
networking or social events.
Personally invite those who are not participating or who have had reservations about the
organization
6 months after becoming a member – Phone Calls/Emails
Reach out to members through phone call and personal emails by reemphasizing the
following:
o Encouraging attendance at events
o Personally congratulating members if business has major accomplishments,
milestones, or in the news
9 month after becoming a member – Send small note or letter on behalf of AACCNM
Send to members that are:
o Affiliates
o Larger companies without activity
o Companies that are not participating in AACCNM programming
o Resend Items reminding them the benefits of membership

10. 10 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
In the third quarter, a personal visit must be conducted to reengage and reconnect with higher paying
dues members.
Evaluation:
o What else can we help you with?
o What more can we do to better serve you?
Survey
o Ask critical questions about the member businesses
o Data would be used for marketing pieces, membership recruitment talking points,
and public policy evidence
o Show that we are reaching out to our membership
Other forms of promotion can be included yearly in the retention cycle to keep encouraging members to stay
active. They can include:
Pass out stickers that promote the mantra of AACCNM
Incentives for recruiting members to the organization
o Event tickets
 Free advertisements on website or other promotional pieces
More avenues for networking
o Retention mixer combined with capability of inviting others that are not members
to the mixer
Ambassador Program
o Mission: Be examples of members that benefit from AACCNM
o Establishing a volunteer group that would represent the membership of AACCNM
o Visually represents the organization in any membership related events
o Reach out to members by inviting them to events
Recruitment Packets
o Include list of committees
o Description of Members
o Designed to be online on website (special URL)
Develop CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Database
o Used to record milestones, attendance, contact information
Price
Revenue will come from two different streams: Membership and non-dues income.
When programming and implementation is complete, the organization will have two funding-
structure phases. In the beginning, membership recruitment will fund 60% of organizational costs. 10% will

11. 11 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
come from founder donations, and 30% of the operational budget will come from non-dues income. As time
progresses, the organization will be funded by non-dues income by 75% and membership will be 25%.
Membership costs will be competitive to other chambers in surrounding communities as other
chambers set the market average for price. Traditionally, chambers base dues off of the number of
employees and type of establishments. The memberships can start from $100 for individuals and can go as
high as $25,000 a year. Rates cannot be negotiated but can be revisited at the beginning of the fiscal year.
Membership rates will be due once a year and must be priced affordably so companies can invest more into
revenue generating events.
Non-dues revenue can generate thousands of dollars if planned according to budget. AACCNM will
co-incide events with the fiscal needs during the year.
Events
o Luncheons
o Galas
o Networking Events
o Conferences
Donations
o Fundraising drives
o Sponsorships
Programs
o Classes
o Workshops
o Leadership programs
Funding
In order to start the organization, the initial investment of $95,000 must be raised before the first
fiscal year. Once a volunteer 501-(c) 6 board is developed, a budget can be established to avoid any other
investments into the organization. In order to fund the executive director’s efforts, website and database
development, sales literature, and start-up expenses, the following breakdown illustrates the distribution of
capital.

12. 12 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
Executive Director Salary $40,000
Website Development $10,000
Sales literature printing and design $5,000
Start up expenses (Gas, computer, rent for office space, supplies, etc) $10,000
Sales person (Base Salary, Commission Base Salary for all sales people) $30,000
Success
The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico will be a successful organization and
will evolve to be an instrumental part to New Mexico’s economic development. As the organization has the
potential to generate revenue in the millions as the cause and mission is clearly defined, the minimal
investment is low and achievable. With communities and businesses in mind, the organization will have
vivacious members and volunteers to help AACCNM grow and prosper. Trained and talented membership
recruiters and community managers will engage members to build a solid membership base. Most
importantly, by managing expectations and working for the interest of Asian American employers and
employees, the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico will be successful in its endeavors.

13. 13 The Asian American Chamber of Commerce of New Mexico
References
ABQJournal Online » Introducing the “International District”. (n.d.). ABQjournal | Albuquerque Journal
Online v 1305098373 2.01 tab Albuquerque and New Mexico State and Local News, Sports, Weather and
Jobs, Cars, Real Estate and Classified Advertising. Retrieved May 11, 2011, from
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2009/02/03/blogs/city-hall/introducing-the-international-district.html
Asian Americans and the highest level of education - News. (n.d.). Free Paper: Free News, China News, U.S.
News, Provides newspaper for all industries. Retrieved May 11, 2011, from http://www.f-paper.com/?i34089
Cole, T. (n.d.). Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Home Page. Greater Albuquerque Chamber of
Commerce. Retrieved May 11, 2011, from www.abqchamber.com
The Real Value of Joining a Local Chamber of Commerce a Research Study. (Shapiro Group.) Retrieved May
11, 2011, from http://www.amherstarea.com/files/chamber-value.pdf