By Letitia Law-Byerly

Corine S. “Cori” Berking is the general manager of Dewitt Transportation Services of Guam and its subsidiaries, Dewitt Moving & Storage, Guam Movers Inc., Recycling Collection Center of Guam, Dewitt Properties and Guam Mattress Warehouse. The company opened on Guam in 1983 as a moving and storage service business and today has about 100 employees. Dewitt is a family owned corporation founded in 1927 and is headquartered in San Diego.

Berking was born on Guam and is an alumna of Simon Sanchez High School. Although her first job was as a cashier at a Carl’s Jr. outlet in San Clemente, Calif, her career in the transportation and moving industry began in 1994 when she was hired as an account executive at then-American President Lines, whose ocean lines were later taken over by Matson Navigation Co. In 1995, she was named and awarded APL Salesperson of the Year for the Pacific region.

In 1997, Berking joined Dewitt as sales manager and in October 1999, was promoted to general manager. Berking held the Guam general manager position until August 2003 when she and her family relocated to Vancouver, Wash. She worked at Dewitt’s Vancouver branch as business development manager until 2004 when she moved to Oregon. From 2004 to 2006, Berking was assistant store manager at Target Corp. in Portland, Ore. In 2006, upon returning to Washington, she rejoined the moving and transportation industry as senior move manager at Crown Moving Co. Inc. In August 2007, Berking returned to Guam with her former employer, Dewitt, to helm the group again as general manager.

Through Dewitt, Berking actively supports several nonprofit and civic organizations, including the Guam chapter of the American Cancer Society, the Guam USO, the Ayuda Foundation and the Guam Chamber of Commerce. Berking has led her company’s fundraising drives and organized Dewitt’s participation at the cancer society’s annual Relay for Life; she is chairwoman of the Guam USO’s sponsorship drive and is an advisory council member.

Dewitt provides gratis warehouse and storage space to the American Cancer Society. The company also donates boxes to Operation Christmas Drop, the Philippine Typhoon Relief efforts and the Ayuda Foundation for medical supplies to be distributed in Micronesia’s outer islands. It also donated the cost of transporting new dictionaries when the four Guam Rotary Clubs presented the books to Adacao Elementary School in November. The company is designated as patriotic by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program.

Berking is married to Ron Berking and they have three children: Natasha, 23; Ronnie, 21; and Lauren, 15.

Hee Kyun Cho is president of JMSH LLC, the owner of the Alupang Beach Tower, Tumon Horizon Condominiums, Mai’ana Airport Plaza Hotel, Holiday Resort Guam and the Garden Villa. In 2008, Cho purchased the Rota Resort and Country Club through Rota Resort LLC, a subsidiary of JMSH LLC. He has also started construction of the Rota Mineral Water bottling plant in Rota to bottle water for export.

Cho, originally from Seoul, Korea, lived in Los Angeles for 18 years before moving to Guam in 2005. His expertise in real estate management and investment began in Los Angeles where he owned and managed about 700 apartment units as well as shopping centers and office buildings. In 2001, Cho was made chairman of the Korean Apartment Owners Association which represented owners of apartment complexes in downtown Los Angeles, totaling 40,000 units with a value of $4 billion.

In 2003, Cho leased a four-acre parcel of land from the state of California. Part of the land was occupied by the Los Angeles City College campus. The area was a high-crime, run-down neighborhood, neglected and vacant for 20 years. Cho obtained approval to build a $6 million high-end golf driving range on the property. After the facility opened, the area was revitalized as other new businesses opened nearby. The college began offering golf classes and clients of the neighboring Braille Institute of the National Organization for the Blind were given free golf lessons.

Also in 2003, Cho started his real estate investments on Guam when he purchased the Tumon Horizon condominiums at a time when local real estate prices were low. His aim with JMSH property investments was to broaden the local tour industry by catering to more diverse market segments in Korea and Japan.

In 2006, Cho was elected the first president of the Korean American Chamber of Commerce of Guam. After acquiring the Rota Resort and Country Club in 2008, he organized a Continental B-737 charter flight from Japan to Rota, a first for the island. In addition to the resort property and bottled water ventures, Cho is planning to develop a casino on Rota.

Cho and his wife, Maria, contribute generously to the Korean Association of Guam, the Korean Catholic Church, the Korean School of Guam, and the annual Korean Association Charity Golf Tournament. They also donate money to international Catholic charity organizations, the Columban Fathers and Guadalupe Missionaries.

Cho has a bachelor’s in economics from a leading Korean university. He and his wife have a daughter, Jae L.Cho, 24, and a son, Seong J. Cho, 20.

Matthew T. “Matt” Giger is the chief business development officer at Choice Phone LLC doing business as iConnect, the main push-to-talk mobile phone service provider on Guam and Saipan. He is also the managing partner of Ruby Tuesday restaurant and managing director of Balboa Asian Investments, a real estate investment and management company. Both Ruby Tuesday and Balboa Asian Investments are companies founded by Giger in 2005.

Giger was born in St. Louis, Mo. in 1961. He moved to southern California with his family in his early teens. In the second semester of his second year at Los Angeles City College, he took a job with Continental Airlines as a flight attendant based out of Honolulu. In 1990, after nine years with the airline, he joined Visionary Related Entertainment Inc., a Hawaii-based radio media company, as regional sales and marketing manager.

In 1995, Giger came to Guam to work as general sales manager for Pacific Telestations broadcasting stations, KUAM TV and Isla FM and AM radio. In 1997, he became vice president and creative director of The Marketing Factory, an advertising and marketing promotions agency. The agency earned the top Guam Marketing Association sales and marketing award in 1998 for the Guam Greyhound Superfecta campaign.

His career in the telecommunications industry began when he joined Guamcell Communications in 2000 as senior director of business development where he oversaw the business development, sales, marketing, advertising and promotions of the company’s product lines on Guam and Saipan. The company received the top GMA sales and marketing awards in 2001 and 2002 respectively for two of its campaigns. In 2002, Giger assumed a consulting role as commercial operations and business development consultant for Verizon Pacifica. He was appointed vice president of iConnect in 2006 and was promoted to his present position in 2009.

Through iConnect, Giger supports the Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Guam Homeless Outreach Program and the Guam National Olympic Committee. The company provides cash donations and/or communications devices to numerous fundraising events. Most recently, iConnect provided 35 push-to-talk mobile devices to the GNOC contingent when it was in Hong Kong for the East Asian Games.

Giger is married to Jung Hee ‘Linda’ Giger and they have two children: Monica, 7, and Jensen, 5.

Robert J. “Rob” Marks is manager of operations at Parsons Corp., an engineering and construction firm headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., with revenues exceeding $3.4 billion in 2008. Parsons Corp. has been operating on Guam for 40 years.

Marks arrived on Guam in July 2007 to his current position after having served in various capacities with Parsons in California, including program manager, project manager and project principal. He brings to his Guam assignment nearly 30 years of experience in project management of multi-discipline developmental and construction projects for clients at military installations, in municipalities and for the private sector. His operational expertise includes setting up and managing stand-alone offices and multi-office regions. His responsibilities on Guam include working and liaising with various government of Guam agencies and with personnel at Naval Facilities Engineering Command Marianas.

Prior to his tenure at Parsons Corp., Marks’ career positions included area manager for southern California at ICF Kaiser Engineers Inc., a position in which he oversaw operations of 110 employees in various projects and was responsible for the profit and loss of various offices. He was also previously vice president and manager of operations at Metcalf and Eddy Inc. in Santa Barbara, Calif. where he handled business development and office operations. He was also co-founder and chief operating officer of EduAdvantage, an e-commerce enterprise that specialized in software and hardware for academic institutions, students and instructors. The company was acquired by Imaging Technologies Corp. in 2001.

Marks is the second vice president of the board of directors of the Society of American Military Engineers and is chairman of the SAME membership committee. Through his company’s community engagements, Marks is actively involved in the Guam Youth Football League sponsored by Parsons, as volunteer financial coordinator. The company is also the sponsor of the Island Saints team in the league.

Parsons is a gold sponsor of the American Red Cross, Guam chapter’s annual Red Ball fundraiser. Marks represents his firm on the Guam Chamber of Commerce’s Armed Forces Committee and Solid Waste Subcommittee. Parsons is also a benefactor of the University of Guam Endowment Foundation scholarship fund.

A native of New York state, Marks graduated with a bachelor’s in geology from the State University of New York at Cortland in 1977. He also attended the master’s program in hydrology at San Diego State University from 1978 to 1979. He is married to Miki Yokozeki-Marks.

James A. Martinez is president of the Guam Contractors’ Association. He was appointed executive director in 2001 and the position was renamed president in 2008. The GCA celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 2009 and has a membership of about 500. The nonprofit body represents the contracting community, material suppliers and other companies whose businesses are related to the construction industry. Among GCA’s recent significant accomplishment was the establishment of the GCA Trades Academy in 2006, to provide skills and apprenticeship training for the development of a skilled labor pool to meet the needs of the local construction industry.

As president of GCA, Martinez is responsible for the implementation and management of the association’s programs, policies and budget; communications with its membership; organizing events to create networking opportunities; maintaining relations with other nonprofit bodies such as the Associated Builders and Contractors and the Guam Chamber of Commerce. He reports to the chairman of GCA’s board of trustees and serves as an ex-officio member of the GCA Trades Academy board.

Martinez started his management career in 1982 in the restaurant industry while pursuing his university studies in Colorado. He was area supervisor and general manager at Restaurants West Inc. in Fort Collins with responsibilities for the operations of four Wendy’s restaurant units in northern Colorado and supervision of 350 crew members and a management staff of 12. The annual combined revenue of the four restaurants was more than $5 million.

In 1992, he returned to Guam and joined BHP Petroleum as retail/commercial sales and marketing manager, where he was responsible for managing commercial accounts and marketing various product lines. Martinez continued on his marketing and sales career path when he became client account services manager in 1995 at Tanner and Yee, a local advertising agency. In 1998, he launched Flowers Just For You, a small startup business enterprise that he ran as president and director.

As GCA president, Martinez and his staff have created the annual GCA Construction Rodeo, a competitive fundraising event for GCA member companies to raise awareness and support for the Guam Special Olympics. In its first year, the event raised $6,000 and in the second year, the amount doubled to $13,000. He also volunteers for the Guam Special Olympics. The GCA is also a bronze sponsor of the American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life, having raised more than $3,000 for each of the past five years for the fight against cancer.

Martinez serves as a board member in several civic and nonprofit business organizations including the Guam Workforce Investment Board, Guam Community College Foundation where he is also secretary and the Center for Micronesian Empowerment, a nonprofit body that helps Micronesian immigrants assimilate to Guam society and gain work.

Born and raised on Guam, Martinez attended San Vicente School in Barrigada and graduated from Father Duenas Memorial School. He also attended Colorado State University from 1978 to 1981 as a mechanical engineering major. His girlfriend and partner, Joyce Kaneshiro has five children he considers his own. They are Christina, 22; Kristopher, 20; Camarin, 19; Kaylene, 14; and Kiroshi, 12.

Jay R. Shedd was appointed president and chief executive officer of Docomo Pacific in May 2008. He had previously worked for Guamcell Communications Inc., the forerunner of Docomo, from 1994 to 2003 as senior vice president, general manager and corporate officer.

Born in Battle Creek, Mich., Shedd lived and worked in California for Motorola from 1983 to 1994. He started as a radio communications representative selling and marketing Motorola’s two-way radio product in the San Diego area. He gained positions of increasing responsibilities to become a digital dispatch sales manager, developing distribution channels to launch a new digital communications network in the Los Angeles area.

Shedd came to Guam in 1994 when Guamcell was a fledgling cellular phone company of less than 10 employees and $3 million revenue. He was responsible for managing all communication products and services that the company offered. He was also responsible for the company’s finances and accounting, IT and engineering operations. By September 2003, the business employed 145 staff, had more than 50,000 customers subscribing to its services and reported earnings of approximately $10 million.

On his return to the U.S. mainland, Shedd started a consulting business in 2004 and provided consulting services to clients such as Alternet Systems Inc. and his former company, Guamcell. He was also the chief operating officer and a partner in RevoTech LLC, a private research and development firm in Tempe, Ariz. In 2005, Shedd started The Shedd Team, a realty investment firm in Arizona that operated as part of the Keller Williams Realty International Group. The Shedd Team and its team of real estate agents specialized in sales and rentals of high-end homes, condominiums, and investment residential and commercial properties.

At the end of his first tenure on Guam in 2003, Shedd was awarded the “Ancient Order of the Chamorri” by Gov. Felix P. Camacho, for outstanding achievements in business on Guam. He was also recognized by the 26th Guam Legislature through a proclamation for changing the face of the telecommunications industry on the island.

He is currently serving his second term as the board chairman of the American Red Cross, Guam chapter. Under his chairmanship, the 9th annual Red Ball in September 2009 raised $226,000, a 21% increase over 2008. The Red Cross also raised a total of $679,000 through its various local fundraisers.

Through Docomo Pacific, Shedd is also involved as a member of the Andersen Air Force Civilian Advisory Council, the Guam Chamber of Commerce’s Armed Forces Committee and the Rotary Club of Guam. The company donates to nearly 200 nonprofit organizations’ fundraising events, and sponsors, with cash and/or products, major community events throughout the year.

Shedd obtained his bachelor’s in liberal studies from Arizona State University in 2009. He also attended California State University at Long Beach for one year in 1993 as a chemistry major. He is married to Sheila Baker Shedd and they have four children: Erica, 16; Aiyana, 12; Hayden, 7; and Shane, 4.

Sinforoso M. “Rossi’ Tolentino is the administrative partner of the law firm of Carlsmith Ball LLP, Guam office, a position he has held for nine years. The firm, established in 1857 in Hawaii, is a major law practice in the Pacific Rim with offices in Saipan, Hawaii and Los Angeles, as well as Guam. The Guam office opened in 1977 and has established practices in a wide range of business areas.

Born and raised on Guam, Tolentino attended San Vicente School during his elementary school years; St. John’s Episcopal Preparatory School for part of his middle school and Father Duenas Memorial School for two years. He graduated from Hawaii Preparatory Academy in 1982.

Tolentino attended Georgetown University in Washington and double majored in finance and management. He obtained this bachelor’s in 1986 and his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989. He was hired out of law school by Roger Crouthamel to join Carlsmith Ball.

Tolentino’s concentration in the firm is business law with emphasis on structuring business entities. He has represented a variety of business organizations in private transactions and before federal and state administrative agencies. Among his duties, he has assisted corporations in matters of corporate formation and registration, dissolution and mergers. He has counseled clients on negotiation of business acquisitions, and represented corporate sellers, buyers and lending institutions in sales of property, and has prepared legal documents for all transactions.

He has delivered guest lectures on basic business law for small business owners and provides professional input for the annual University of Guam Small Business Symposium. As the administrative partner of the firm, Tolentino is responsible for the financial administration and performance of the Guam office.

Through the law firm, Tolentino plays an active role in various civic and nonprofit bodies. He is serving a second three-year term on the Guam Chamber of Commerce board of directors and volunteers time and resources on several of the chamber’s committees including its Legislative Affairs, Armed Forces, Education and Workforce, Small Business, and Maritime Affairs committees. He is a member of the Guam Bar Association and the American Bar Association and the Rotary Club of Tumon Bay. He serves on the board of directors of Guma Mami Inc. and the Guam Employers Council.

Carlsmith Ball is also a supporter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Guam Girls Scouts, the four Rotary Clubs on Guam, the Society of Human Resources Management, the Guam Contractors’ Association Trades Academy, the Guam Workforce Investment Board and the Guam Community College Foundation.

Tolentino and his wife, Anna have three children: Annika, 11; Pio, 3; and Akeyla, 1.