Bank of Guam announces five promotions.
Katherine Roberto Lujan is promoted to assistant vice president and Santa Cruz branch manager. She joined the bank in 2005 as a management trainee, and held positions as officer of operations and compliance. Lujan most recently spent two years as Palau branch manager. She holds a bachelor’s in English with a minor in sociology from the University of Guam.

Matthew C. Cruz is promoted to vice president and Palau branch manager. He joined the bank in 2005 as an assistant vice president and marketing officer. Cruz previously held the title of vice president and business development manager. He holds a bachelor’s in business administration and marketing from Eastern Washington University.

Dina San Nicolas is promoted to vice president and human resources manager. San Nicolas was previously an assistant vice president and human resources training officer. A graduate of Guam Community College, San Nicolas earned the bank’s Excellence in Supervision, Customer Service Representative of the Year, and Employee of the Year awards in 1997, 2003, and 2004 respectively. She has been branch manager at the Dededo, Mangilao, and Yigo branches; and has worked at the Andersen and Hagåtña branches.

Jennifer Sanchez is promoted to vice president and Hagåtña branch manager. She was previously assistant vice president and Mangilao branch manager. Sanchez holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from the University of Guam. She served as the Yigo branch manager, and customer service department manager. Sanchez was the recipient of the bank’s 2005 Excellence in Customer Service and 2008 Branch Manager of the Year awards.

Patricia Benito Salas is appointed vice president and business development manager. She joins the bank from Citizens Security/ANZ Bank where she was Harmon branch manager and commercial loan department vice president relationship manager. Salas holds a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of San Diego and graduated from the University of Washington’s Pacific Coast Banking School.
She heads the business development and sales team covering Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.

Jeffrey John Ibanez, vice president of executive development of the Bank of Guam, received the 2010 Guam Community College Distinguished Alumni award during an April 30 ceremony at the college’s multipurpose auditorium. Ibanez is a 1990 graduate of the electronics program at the former Guam Vocational Technical High School. He holds a bachelor’s from the University of Guam, and in 1997, earned a master’s in business administration from UOG.

Watts Constructors promotes John Sage to the position of vice president and general manager, Micronesia. Prior to joining Watts in 2006, Sage served three years as a consultant with MSK Consultants. Sage also worked eight years as chief engineer for Pomeroy Corp. Both MSK and Pomeroy are based on Petaluma, Calif. He has more than 20 years of management, engineering and construction experience. Sage holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from the University of Auckland. He is a registered professional engineer in California.

Hyatt Regency Guam announces the hiring of Joy James as public relations manager. Previously, James was assistant press secretary at the Hagåtña district office of Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo. James attended the University of Guam, and holds a two-year leadership certificate from IMPACT! Leadership Institute in San Jose, Calif. She also holds two-year leadership diploma from the Every Nation Leadership Institute in Manila.

Federated States of Micronesia Telecommunications Corp. announces April 27 the appointment of John Sohl as president and chief executive officer. Prior to the appointment, Sohl had served, since 1988, as the FSMTC’s chief operations officer. Sohl also served eight years in the FSM national government and seven years with the Pohnpei Agriculture and Trade School. He is a 1973 graduate of the University of Guam.

MCV Broadband announces the hiring of Paul T. Cruz as director of telephone operations. Previously, Cruz was the company’s telephone switch manager. He has held positions as long distance switching supervisor at IT&E and field service technician and engineer for SAIC. He brings 20 years of experience to his current position.

Ryuhei Kono is the new general manager of Palau Pacific Resort as of May 9. Most recently he was general manager of Hotel Nikko Jakarta. Kono began his career in hospitality with Hilton International in the food and beverage department shortly after graduating from YMCA International Hotel School in Tokyo in 1965. From December 1971 until January 1973 he was the head waiter at the Galleon Grill at what was then the Guam Hilton Hotel. After 12 years with Hilton, Kono joined JAL Hotels Co. Ltd. and spent 28 years as assistant general manager at JHC hotels in Japan and Mexico City. He also spent five years beginning September 1989 as assistant general manager of the Hotel Nikko Guam before becoming general manager at JHC properties in Jakarta, Taipei and New Dehli.

The Guam Contractors’ Association confirms its 2010-2011 board of directors during its monthly membership meeting May 13 at Hyatt Regency Guam. Members of the new board include Armando T. Acosta, vice president, Orion Construction Corp.; Adam Baron, bond manager, Cassidy’s Associated Insurance; Conchita D. “Chit” Bathan, general manager, Ace Builders; William D. Beery, owner, Construction Management Services; Narcisa Dimaoala, president and general manager, Amazon Construction; Vince Davis, operations manager, Hawthorne Pacific Corp.; Thomas J. Nielsen, president, Maeda Pacific Corp.; Thomas D. Perez, vice president of business development, Perez Bros. Inc.; Michelle M. Quidachay, account executive, Horizon Lines; Ana Liza C.W. Reed, owner, LA Painting & Construction; Robert P. Salas, director, Landscape Management Systems; Joshua F. Tenorio, business development director, Core Tech International; Edward G.Untalan, senior vice president, First Hawaiian Bank; and Ronald M. Young, director of development, Parker Bros. Bathan, Beery, Salas and Perez are the board chairwoman, vice chairman, treasurer-secretary, and past chairman, respectively.

Frank Crisostomo-Kaaihue is appointed director of the Guam Veterans Business Outreach Center on May 3. The center is hosted by the University of Guam’s School of Business and Public Administration, and located at the Guam Veterans Affairs Office in Asan. Previously, Crisostomo-Kaaihue was vice president of the Armored Express Services, which became G4S Cash Solutions. He was a small business counselor with the Guam Small Business Development Center from 1997 to 2006. He holds a bachelor’s from UOG.

Andrew T. Laguana, board member of the Guam Board of Registration for Professional Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors and Landscape Architects is elected chairman of the executive committee for Region 6 of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards during its combined spring regional meeting held March 26-27 in Boston.

The Junior Statesman Foundation selects the Northern Mariana Islands’ Ignacio Dela Cruz of Marianas High School and Allyssa Arangorin of Kagman High School to receive full scholarships to attend Junior Statesman of America summer school programs. Arangorin and Dela Cruz will attend summer programs at Stanford University and Princeton University, respectively. Rita Sablan, NMI commissioner for public schools, agreed to fund the scholarships after JSF staff members visited the NMI in February.

The University of Guam selects Tumakreng Johanes as the 2009 Student Employee of the Year. Johanes won a Delta Air Lines roundtrip ticket to attend the National Student Employee of the Year conference in Cincinnati. Among other prizes, Johanes received gas coupons from South Pacific Petroleum Corp.

The Soroptimist International of the Marianas selected St. John’s School student, Morgan Crisostomo, as the recipient of its Violet Richardson Award for outstanding community volunteer work. The award honors young women between the ages of 14 and 17. Crisostomo volunteers with an organization that assists families of children with severe disabilities. She also teaches at a middle-school girls volleyball camp, and raises money with her glee club for “Songs for Smiles,” a project to fund surgery for Filipino children with cleft palette. Crisostomo volunteers in the annual American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, beach and reef clean ups, and initiated an ink-cartridge recycling project at St. John’s.

Representative Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, the Northern Mariana Islands’ delegate to Congress presented a congressional certificate of commendation to Yoichi Matsumura recognizing more than two decades of dedication to the NMI tourism industry. Matsumura was recruited in 1984 to work in Saipan as tour relation coordinator for Pacific Development Inc. Before becoming president of PDI in 2007, Matsumura held positions as manager, assistant general manager and general manager. Since 2004, Matsumura has been a member of the Marianas Visitors Authority board of directors.

The Marianas Visitors Authority recognizes Sandra Atalig, administrative specialist; Alfred Maratita, trades technician; Atson Poll, trades technician; and Frank Tudela, community projects coordinator, for 20 years of service. Brenda Repeki, marketing specialist; and Mary Muna, accountant, were recognized for 10 years of service. Skye Seo, marketing specialist, is MVA Employee of the Year.

Robert McConnell is named general manager of Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. He holds more than 20 years of management experience in the hospitality industry. McConnell joined Outrigger in 1988, and has worked at various Outrigger properties serving as night auditor, group manager, relief manager, assistant hotel manager, and general manager. McConnell has several years of international hotel experience, serving as general manager of Outrigger’s Pacific resorts in Fiji, the Marshall Islands and Palau.

Yvonne Tam, assistant professor of marketing at Guam Community College is invited to present her paper, “How to Make a Difference in the Community” at the 19th annual conference of the Community College National Center for Community Engagement on May 26-28 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Tam has been a member of the GCC faculty for six years.