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MEDIA RELEASE: Two Armenian-American Leaders Elected to BizFed Board and Executive Committee Diverse Business Voices Connect to Strengthen LA County Economy in 2017
LOS ANGELES, March 29
– Founded in 2008,
BizFed is a massive, diverse grassroots alliance of over 160 top business organizations representing 325,000 businesses with 3 million employees across the region. BizFed’s volunteer officers provide the active leadership necessary to promote the economic vitality of Southern California.
The election of Zanku Armenian and Steve Samuelian to the 2017 BizFed Executive Committee is a significant and noteworthy achievement. They will provide critical thought leadership throughout the year, aimed at guiding the priorities and direction of the BizFed alliance.
BizFed Founding CEO Tracy Hernandez commented, “As one of the leading voices for businesses, BizFed prides itself on our leadership. We are very proud to have Steve and Zanku as members of our Executive Committee. L.A. County is home to the largest Armenian-American population outside of Armenia and BizFed looks forward to our continued work with the Armenian community and all ethnic groups across our diverse region.”
Zanku Armenian is Director of Public Affairs for Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. He manages external outreach working with 200 local and regional governments and communities in southern California. He also is a senior member on the company’s emergency preparedness and crisis response teams. Mr. Armenian has three decades of experience leading public affairs campaigns and communications strategies for major corporations and high-profile issues working out of Washington, DC, Silicon Valley and southern California. In Washington, he was a founding member of public affairs firm Powell Tate, established by President Jimmy Carter’s press secretary Jody Powell and First Lady Nancy Reagan’s press secretary Sheila Tate. He also has held positions with global public relations firms Burson-Marsteller and Brodeur Worldwide and has worked in the media and political fields in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, including the office of former Senator and later Vice President Joseph Biden. In addition to serving on the boards of various community-based organizations, Armenian currently serves on the Board of the USC Price School of Public Policy’s Local Leaders Program, the City of Glendale’s Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee, including as its past chairman, and previously also served as President of the City of Glendale’s Water and Power Commission. More recently, Mr. Armenian was part of a U.S. State Department delegation to the Republic of Armenia on renewable energy matters.
Steve Samuelian is the Founder and CEO of California Consulting, LLC the state’s largest grant writing company with clients and offices in the Bay Area, Central Valley, Sacramento, and Southern California. Steve was recently appointed as the Co-Chair of the USC Unruh Institute Ambassadors Board of Directors, a group of 35 influential community, civic, labor, political, and business leaders from throughout Southern California. Steve’s family has a long history of civic, community, and political involvement in the L.A. region dating back over seventy five years. Steve began his political involvement in Los Angeles in 1982 at the age of thirteen. Steve has served on the Board of Directors of a Chamber of Commerce, a United Way, and a Crimestoppers. He served in the California State Assembly and served 8 years as District Director for a U.S. Congressman. Steve has twice traveled to the Republic of Armenia once as part of an OSCE delegation monitoring adoption of Armenia’s first Constitution and later as part of a U.S. Congressional visit.
For more details, click here for BizFed’s newly released two-minute overview video.
During a ceremony hosted at the City Club Los Angeles in downtown, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge The Honorable Tony Mohr administered an oath of office to install the following new BizFed officers for 2017:
(Steve Samuelian is fourth in from the left in the middle row, Zanku Armenian is the third in from the right in the middle row).
Zanku Armenian
Steve Samuelian
About BizFed: BizFed is a grassroots alliance of more than 160 diverse business groups, including industry trade groups, chambers of commerce, ethnic business groups, business improvement districts, premier independent companies and agencies.The organization represents more than 325,000 businesses that employ 3 million employees across all 88 cities in Los Angeles County. BizFed is recognized as the credible voice for business in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Washington, DC. For more information, visit bizfed.org.
