On May 7, 2012, Hagop (Jack) Antounian, the founder and president of the Armenian Business Network (ABN), will speak at the dinner meeting of the St. James Armenian Church Men’s Club, Watertown, MA, on “The ABN and Networking.”

Antounian is a strategic business leader with over 20 years of demonstrated success in leading high-tech manufacturing companies and supply chains serving the semiconductor, robotics, medical, and telecommunications industries. He has held various leadership positions in manufacturing operations and currently is the vice-president of manufacturing (North American and China operations) at BTU International, a leading global supplier of advanced thermal processing equipment for the alternative energy and electronics assembly markets. Prior to BTU, Antounian was the vice-president of operations at SEEGRID, a producer of vision-guided mobile robots.

ABN plans business workshops with expert speakers, provides online job postings, organizes networking events at Armenian-owned venues, and provides an online platform for members to promote their businesses, services, local causes, and events. A new program, “Champion an Armenian,” is comprised entirely of member volunteers who share their expertise or knowledge in a particular field with other members who seek guidance, mentoring, career advice, or employment within the same field.

In the coming months, ABN will publish an Armenian Business E-Directory. This valuable tool will enable members to easily identify Armenian entities and individuals to support. All the programs instituted by ABN are to facilitate the primary vision for the group - Armenians supporting Armenians, The Armenian Weekly reported.