COMMONWEALTH Healthcare Corp. Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna, who won the Business Person of the Year Award from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce on Saturday, said the honor also belongs to all CHCC staff.
“I share this award with the amazing team at CHCC, from the operations, planning, logistics, financial, medical and nursing, contact tracing and surveillance,” she added.
Saipan Chamber of Commerce 2020 Businessperson of the Year Esther L. Muna, center, poses with the Businesspersons of the Year from previous years on Saturday at Saipan World Resort.
Photo by K-Andrea Evarose S. Limol
She said CHCC’s approach from Day 1 of the Covid-19 pandemic was to ensure that “we do everything necessary to protect our community, our health system, and our health care workers now and help give everyone a chance to restart.”
Muna said it took “a great collaboration with the governor and the Governor’s Covid-19 Task Force as we used existing plus creating new public-private partnerships.”
She added, “Economic health is essential for public health and, as we have seen especially in this pandemic, vice versa.”
Muna likewise thanked the Saipan of Chamber of Commerce for welcoming the CHCC into the chamber family, and for all the chamber and its members do for the community.
Muna said, “It was an honor to be nominated with such greats” as Hyatt Regency Saipan Human Resources Director Josephine Mesta, Naked Fish owner Joe Guerrero and Dr. Josh Wise of PHI Pharmacy.
“I want to give my congratulations to them as well,” Muna added.
New chamber officers
Also on Saturday, the 2021 Saipan Chamber of Commerce board members were sworn in by Judge Kenneth L. Govendo in the Royal Taga Ballroom of Saipan World Resort.
The board members are Marcia Calvo of Calvo’s Insurance, Joseph C. Guerrero of Naked Fish Bar & Grill, Mike Johnson of Deloitte, Das Krishnan of Fiesta Resort & Spa, Velma Palacios of IT&E, Janice Tenorio of IT&E, Shayne Villanueva of Aon Insurance, Alex Sablan of Tan Holdings, and Glen Hunter of The Shack.
Calvo will serve as this year’s secretary, Johnson as treasurer, Villanueva as vice president, and Guerrero as president.
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce 2021 board members are Velma Palacios of IT&E, Das Krishnan of Fiesta Resort & Spa, Janice Tenorio of IT&E, Marcia Calvo of Calvo’s Insurance, Joseph Guerrero of Naked Fish Bar & Grill, Shayne Villanueva of Aon Insurance, and Mike Johnson of Deloitte. Not pictured are Alex Sablan of Tan Holdings and Glen Hunter of The Shack. Joseph Guerrero is the chamber’s new president.
Photo by K-Andrea Evarose S. Limol
Small Business of the Year
Naked Fish Bar and Grill was recognized as the Saipan Chamber of Commerce 2020 Small Business of the Year.
Locally owned and operated by co-owners Joseph C. Guerrero and Eleanor T. Cabrera, the restaurant was established in 2004 and focuses on sourcing and highlighting local goods and talent.
Start-Up of the Year
EatsEasy is the Start-Up of the Year.
Founded by Clint Albert and Marco Santiago, EatsEasy is the first and only on-demand GPS-based delivery app on Saipan.
Along with board members Lovely Macaranas and Deric Jespi, Albert and Santiago founded Tech 5ive LLC and launched the app in February of last year.
Although it came at a time when the local community was minimizing in-person activities and could really benefit from food delivery, EatsEasy still had its fair share of challenges.
To date, it has logged over 15,000 deliveries since its launch and continues to partner with several local restaurants, as well as supermarkets such as Joeten.
Young Professional of the Year
Jacqueline P. Che, the Public School System’s interim senior director for accountability, research, and evaluation, is the 2020 Saipan Young Professional of the Year.
Che is a Mount Carmel School alumna who received her master’s degree in higher education leadership from the University of San Diego, and a professional certificate in strategic management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
She is also an Assessment Leadership Academy graduate, sponsored by the WASC Sr. College & University Commission.
Che returned home to Saipan in 2011 to serve as the CNMI Scholarship Administrator.
She has served as the Northern Marianas College director of institutional effectiveness, and currently serves as vice chair of the MCS board of directors, a member of the CNMI Women’s Association, a member of the inaugural class of the Pacific Century Fellows-NMI Chapter, a founding member of the Marianas Young Professionals, and a founding member of the CNMI College and Career Readiness Research Alliance.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Che spearheaded “Full Belly, Full Hearts” 1,000 meals campaign, which provides relief items to the unemployed and impacted workers every Sunday morning.
The campaign provided over 1,000 hot meals prepared by Majesty Chinese Restaurant and a little over 700 bags of groceries for the most vulnerable members of the CNMI community.
Member of the Year
Triple J Saipan is the 2020 Chamber Member of the Year.
The Triple J group of companies has several major operations in the Marianas and is known for its “Customers First” commitment.
This year’s chamber of commerce gala was sponsored by Coca-Cola Beverage Co. (Micronesia), Foremost Foods, Inc., D&Q Distributors, Marianas Pacific Distributors, PHI Pharmacy, TopNotch, AB Risk Solutions, Bank of Guam, CHCC, Crowne Plaza Resort & Spa, Docomo Pacific, Hyatt Regency Saipan, IT&E Saipan, Tan Holdings, Tribe Marianas, Triple J Saipan, 500 Sails, DFS T Galleria, Naked Fish Bar & Grill, LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort, Pacific Trading Company, Saipan World Resort, Roberta Guerrero, Velma Palacios, Joseph C. Guerrero, Marcia Calvo, Shayne Villanueva, Das Krishnan, Tyrell Pauling, Bridge Capital, and The Shack.
The chamber’s annual Businessperson of the Year gala serves as a fundraiser to generate resources for chamber programs pertaining to education, workforce training, sustainable development, and supporting the U.S. armed forces, small businesses, and entrepreneurs.
