I will start with a time capsule of 36 years. In 1982, a small group of people envisioned a community and brought CACP into being. At that time, there was no San Gabriel Square, and Downtown Los Angeles was a dismal sight at night. The LA Grand Hotel Downtown, where we are having banquet today, was non-existent then. Look at where we are now, San Gabriel Square is vibrant as a prosperous commercial plaza and Downtown Los Angeles renovates itself as a modern global center with magnificent night view. CACP today is a leading organization among Chinese American construction professionals in Southern California.
We are forever grateful to CACP past and current supporters, presidents, directors, and members. Due to their vision and commitment, CACP develops rich programs that connect and benefit diversified groups of people. As a CACP director for years and also a past president, I am privileged to have participated and witnessed the amazing journey of CACP from previous years. I am deeply impressed and motivated by people who religiously devote their time and resources to CACP. These people truly epitomize what Winston Churchill said “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” They are a major driving force behind CACP, for past, present, and future. As year 2018-2019 kicks in, I am honored and humbled to serve as President again for this great organization. Building on the momentum, we will move forward with three key words: Impact, Benefit, and Membership. The three key words interrelate and reinforce each other. We advance on one, we advance on all three.
- Impact: To have impact is to be an influencer. We will influence more people by partnering with other organizations and ethnic groups to spread ideas and excellence, to share best practice, to create new opportunities and to foster prosperities.
- Benefit: We will bring more benefits to people through enriched CACP platform, which is not only for service providers to build each other up but also for investors to look for expertise. Both sides will profit from CACP platform.
- Membership: In order for CACP to remain vibrant and dynamic, we need to focus on attracting new members and keeping the members we already have.
With the three key words in mind, we are entering into new partnership and creating new programs. The immediate ones are Chinese Construction Professionals Awards (8/31/18), and Construction Material Expo (8/31/18-9/1/18) co-hosted with a renowned prestigious Chinese institution. We are also evaluating programs to have more investor involvements. I will end with another time capsule. Fast forwarding to future 36 years, when we look back today, I hope we can be proud, because the collaboration and synergy we build up today, generate impact far and beyond in the future.
