The Asian Business Association of Orange County recognized OCTA with the Corporate Excellence Award for the agency’s contributions to the Asian-American business community.
OCTA CEO Will Kempton accepted the award on behalf of the agency and spoke about the ongoing importance of building business relationships in the community.
Kempton specifically highlighted the importance of small businesses in delivering transportation infrastructure because small businesses account for 80 percent of jobs and are “on the forefront of efficiency and innovation.”
“Our goal at OCTA is to keep Orange County moving, and we could not have efficiently delivered transportation projects without the help of our private-sector partners,” Kempton said. “Through outreach events where we reached more than 11,000 people last year, OCTA has built working relationships with small businesses to continue bringing innovative transportation solutions to the industry.”
In addition to accepting the award, Kempton participated as the keynote speaker for the night, where he discussed the importance of transportation for business, the community and the economy. This included information about Measure M2, the voter-renewed local transportation sales tax that funds many of OCTA’s projects, programs and services.
More than 300 small business owners and professionals gathered Saturday night at the Disneyland Hotel for the Asian Business Association’s 17th Annual Recognition and Awards Gala to recognize leaders and business owners.
The business group awarded Bekele Demissie, OCTA’s business relations administrator, with its Corporate Community Development Person of the Year Award for his dedicated service in enhancing relations with business and community leaders throughout the region.
The group’s leaders, Gloria Rull and Mai Vang Exequiel, thanked OCTA for its contribution to involving the community in business opportunities and outreach activities for highway and road capital improvement projects as well as for providing a valuable and reliable transit network.
Congressman Ed Royce also participated in the event and commended the business group’s service in assisting businesses with community resources to help them better succeed.
“I am consistently impressed by the contributions of the Asian Americans in the field of business,” Royce said. “As Orange County’s Asian-American community has grown in size and prominence, your organization has matched its growth, and today, you do an outstanding job in representing Asian-American business interests.”
