Paul Beraquit, first President and Chairman of the Philippine-American Chamber, founded the Chamber in January 2004.  Paul had researched many Filipino organizations and he found out that there is very limited focus done on helping Filipino-American grow and promote their businesses.  He felt that it was time to create a business organization that would facilitate the start of a Filipino-American business community.  It was time for the Filipino-American community to be recognized as a thriving and vibrant business community. His vision is for the Filipino-American community to become a strong voice in the Tampa Bay Business Community, creating a structured organization in which members can communicate, network, and take advantage of the vast resources that our community has to offer.  

The very first board meeting on January 7, 2004, conceptualized and created the structure of the Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce of Tampa Bay, Inc.  It was this first meeting that set the pace for the growth of our organization.  Many Filipinos have since then recognized the Chamber and the overall sentiment has been..."It's about time!".

With the relentless leadership of Paul Beraquit and the Board Members, the Chamber has grown leaps and bounds from its inception.  We have grown to over 250 members within a short few months with the goal of 1500 members strong by April of 2005. With our strength in numbers we can achieve greater things.