Hana Financial, Inc. President & CEO Sunnie Kim Wins LA Business Journal's 2012 Asian Business Award

July 30, 2012 - PRLog -- Sunnie S. Kim, co-founder and current President and Chief Executive Officer of Hana Financial, Inc.—a full service non-bank direct lender—was one of five winners of the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2012 Asian Business Award. The winners, chosen from 34 finalists, were awarded during a luncheon on Wednesday, July 25 at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.  

The awards were sponsored by Cathay Pacific, Wells Fargo, and the Asian Business Association. Winners were selected based on companies within the Asian American business community who are setting an example for excellence throughout the Greater Los Angeles area.

“I had a vision of creating a commercial finance company specializing in factoring, SBA lending, home mortgages, and commercial real estate lending that catered to fast-growing, small businesses,” said Ms. Kim, who co-founded Hana Financial in 1994 as the first minority-owned commercial finance company in Los Angeles. “Hana Financial is the realization of my vision and this award from the Los Angeles Business Journal is a tribute to the passion that has driven me the past 17 years.”

The LABJ recognized Ms. Kim for her creation of Hana, and a career in which she has redefined the roles of women in Asian enterprises as the first female CEO and president of any major Korean American enterprise. At a time when traditional lenders shied away from family-owned Korean American garment businesses, Ms. Kim created Hana in order to provide financial services to a community she believed would flourish if given the opportunity. As a result, Hana Financial played an integral role in the proliferation of the Korean and Korean American apparel industry in Los Angeles as well as throughout the United States.

Today, Hana Financial has nine branches across the United States and has generated over $14 billion in factored sales working with clients of all cultures and backgrounds. The company has evolved into one of the nation’s top-10 factors, one of the nation’s top-25 SBA lenders, and an up-and-coming player in mortgage lending.
 
The other winners of the 2012 LABJ Business Award include:

Dr. Soon Kim of Signature Healthcare Services; Hardeep Grewal of OhCal Foods, LLC/Subway; Chris Sugai of Niner Bikes; Neena Bansil of First Choice Bank; Sandeep Walia of Ignify; and Ada Chan and Amanda Ma of Fresh Events Company.

Hana Financial, Inc. is a non-bank direct lender specializing in factoring, inventory financing, trade finance, equipment leasing, home mortgages, commercial real estate loans, and SBA loans.  Based in Los Angeles, CA., Hana has 135 employees and provides nationwide service with branches in New York, Denver, Atlanta, Columbia, Orange County, San Gabriel Valley, and Seattle. Hana is known for its agility in catering to and resolving all business needs with attentive, engaging customer service and innovative financial solutions. www.hanafinancial.com