Stanley Xu discovered 10 years ago that reinvention is the key to success. The Seattle real estate investor and airplane parts builder changed his career path to overcome the state’s economic slump in the early 1990s.

Xu, 42, a native of mainland China, earned a Ph.D. in engineering from Oklahoma State University. He hoped to enter the hi-tech field when he moved to the Seattle area, but found the market weak and competition fierce.

So, he got into real estate instead.

Today, Xu is the president of the Longwell Company, a real estate management firm he founded in 1992, and Longwell Technology, a Boeing manufacturer he acquired in 2000. The two companies reported a total $2.5 million in profits last year.

Xu says his story teaches others to “be open to any resources available” and not to “have a narrow view, in only what interests them.”

At an April 27 seminar in downtown Bellevue, about 10 miles east of Seattle, Xu told a crowd of mostly ethnic Chinese professionals that entrepreneurial success can start by finding an industry with a proven market, where profits are relatively easy to earn. He also asserted the importance of cooperation and teamwork — concepts that many Chinese business owners frequently don’t embrace, even though they lack skills in finance, promotions or sales.

Xu encouraged the group to expand its business skills, pool its abilities and seek assistance away from traditional Chinese community resources. He echoed the mission of the Chinese Business and Technology Association (CBTA), which sponsored the event.

Founded in October, the CBTA promotes trade between Seattle and China. Perhaps more importantly, the nonprofit is also designed to aid the development of local Chinese businesses, says President Qin Tang.

Tang, 41, a software designer with a Ph.D. in geography, explains he — like many Chinese immigrants — never learned how to start or run a business.

“They’re highly educated,” he says, but are “more used to working for others.”

Tang left a job at Microsoft two years ago — during the dot-com craze — to start his own company, UTC Consulting Services, which specializes in geographic informational systems. He admits he found the business environment encouraging, but he still struggled with how to raise capital and access needed help.

The CBTA grew from a trade mission to China last September. Tang was one of 17 Seattle-area business people who attended the trip and was impressed after meeting trade delegates from California where there is stronger support for Chinese community enterprise.

The Seattle group envisioned a better community network that would advocate for the interests of Chinese businesses throughout Greater Seattle.

The only other area group similar to the CBTA is the Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which has historically focused only on businesses in the city’s Chinatown International District. In fact, the Chamber recently announced it wants to begin serving Chinese interests throughout the Puget Sound region. Those plans, however, are still being worked out.

The CBTA, open to anyone, currently lists about 100 members from throughout the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Though there are some younger and non-Chinese members, most are middle-aged Chinese immigrants who work in hi-tech.

The CBTA has held several networking and business training events. Members have also kept in contact with Chinese government leaders, in hopes of building closer relationships with them.

Tang says though the political system is still communist, business is entirely different.

“Officials realized the old [state-run] business system was not very efficient,” Tang says. He contends Chinese businesses are now allowed to do practically “anything” they want and that the people themselves are willing to do almost anything, as long as they can make money.

Liang believes the CBTA has already shown her how to work better with others — and has given her unequalled guidance.

Xu argues the networking lessons that he and the CBTA offer may not be easy to accept or understand, but they are vital for the Chinese immigrant community’s growth and future prosperity.

“The purpose of business,” reminds Xu, “is to make money.”