Click here to watch the Clip

As a third generation American, Chin’s wonderful rags-to-riches story is one that he built only a few miles away from the neighborhood he grew up in.

Ed was raised just down the street on 7th and Webster in the Chinatown district. “I grew up in a house with not more than 1,200 or 1,300 square feet. We probably had fifteen people at any one time living there. We slept in a cot by the water heater. I think there was something like three or four kids in every room. We had one bathroom and no shower facilities,” Chin reflects on the early days.

Article found in Fortune Small Business, December 2003/January 2004
ED CHIN
AIS Corp.

Chin is the first to admit that he's cocky and outspoken. So it's no surprise that this third-generation Chinese American "raised hell" at the insurance company where he worked in the 1960s after noticing that Asians were being overcharged for insurance products. But seeing not enough progress, Chin - who calls insurance companies glorified 'bookies "-quit his job and in 1979 started AIS Corp. in Oakland. Today AIS provides small- and mid-sized companies the kinds of sophisticated insurance packages and benefits usually reserved for corporate America.

Chin found his niche by paying special attention to the Asian marketplace. Everyone on his 25-person staff speaks at least two languages, allowing Asian immigrants who call the agency to speak to a representative not only in their native language but often in their particular dialect too. In 1981 he started the revolutionary practice of sending clients a single bill with all their different insurance charges. Over the years he's won numerous industry awards, and clients have spread the word about his company outside the Asian community, keeping AlS growing. Last year his company generated $40 million in sales, twice its revenue six years ago. -CORA DANIELS

Ed Chin is the owner of AIS Corporation, which provides benefits to more than 15,000 individuals, employees, executives, and owners of small to mid-sized companies. He has been recognized as Asian Entrepreneur of the Year, Businessman of the Year, and was profiled in Money Magazine. He can be reached at (510) 893-5331 or visit www.ais-insurance.com.

How do small firms compete when they don't have the personnel that the large firms have? We really don't see that kind of competition evolving just yet. If you go to the Chamber of Commerce meetings, you don't see any of the big firms hustling business. The small guys need to stay with small businesses. The leads clubs are great for start-up guys.

As a third generation Asian American, Ed Chin's rags to riches story is a true American fairy tale. Chin was raised in the Chinatown district of Oakland, California in a financially poor family but rich with love. Unaware of being poor, Chin and his family always concentrated on what they had and not what they didn't have. This philosophy has stayed true with Chin and has helped him build AIS Corporation into the $25 million corporation that it is today. As president and 100% owner of AIS Corporation, Ed Chin heads one of the largest Asian American owned general insurance companies in the nation.

When Edward Chin plays guard in University of California Medical Center pick-up basketball games, he often tires on the fast breaks and asks the coach to take him out. That’s not Chin’s style off the court. As founder and president of Oakland-based AIS Inc., a diversified financial services firm, he is jumping from one proverbial fast break to another – without any thought of letup.