The Indian community is becoming a growing part of Cincinnati, and of the local business community. As the Southeast Asian country continues to increase in wealth and influence, more Americans are looking to do business with Indian companies.
Those are just a couple of reasons a group of local professionals are launching the Indian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The organization will host a membership kickoff event May 5, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at
Elements Conference Centre, 11974 Lebanon Road in Sharonville.
Currently there are 2,500 Indian families living in Greater Cincinnati, according to Indian Chamber board members. That's a small, but growing and influential group, said president Rayan Coutinho, an attorney at
Wood and Lamping who is originally from Bombay.
"Nationally, more than 60 percent of Indians have a bachelors degree, and more than 40 percent have a master's or doctorate degree," said Coutinho. In addition Indian workers and entrepreneurs in America have a significant presence in the medical, hotel/hospitality and high tech fields, he added.
The Chamber 's aim is to bring together Indian-born and ethnic Indian Americans, as well as any Americans in Cincinnati who'd like to network and create business opportunities with the Indian community, Coutinho said.
"We're not limiting the membership; of course it is focused on Indian business. But we think what is good for Cincinnati is good for the local Indian business community. The Hispanic Chamber does a fantastic job of that and we hope to emulate that," Coutinho said.
The new Chamber also aims to be the starting point for Indian companies that want to do business with Cincinnati or vice versa.
"We're trying to provide a one-stop shop for information. For instance, there is an Indian company that wants to set up a software company in Cincinnati, we would give them the information to get started," he said.
The Indian Chamber has a seven-member board representing various business sectors and regions of India. It will be housed at
D.A.G. Construction in Winton Place, where Chamber Board member Lindsay Wilhelm works as Marketing Director.
The Chamber plans to launch its
web page sometime this week.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Sources: Indian Chamber of Commerce board members Rayan Coutinho and Lindsay Wilhelm
You can follow Feoshia on twitter
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