YCO Corporation board member Dante N. Yumul is shown at the Northern Marianas Technical Institute where he teaches automotive technology.
YCO Corporation board member Dante N. Yumul is celebrating his birthday today, April 4, 2025.
Born on the same day when the corporation was celebrating its first anniversary 49 years ago, April 4 is therefore doubly significant for Yumul, making the corporation’s progress throughout the years important markers that he personally feels.
YCO Corporation was created on April 4, 1975. Since then, it has faithfully celebrated its many anniversaries and Yumul, who is the youngest son in the family, holds so many precious memories as he grew up alongside the corporation and its many employees that he couldn’t help but get teary-eyed at some of those memories.
Like when he first learned how to drive a forklift at just 12 years old.
The corporation’s warehouse, which was just a stone’s throw away from their old house in Puerto Rico, was his favorite hangout. “That’s where I grew up,” he said.
Even at such a young age, Yumul already had a more intimate connection with the people that helped build the corporation. It was no wonder then that he came to admire the warehouse employees who operated the forklifts and he always looked forward to seeing them every day.
The warehouse men were so charmed by the young Yumul that’s they surreptitiously let him learn something he loved most—driving.
“Whenever the warehouse men came in, I would run in and watch them operate the forklift. And I would always wait for them to take a break, and…that’s when I first learned how to drive a forklift,” he beamed.
Later, as he was looking over his many career options, Yumul decided to pursue a career that fit his passion. He went to Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and got a degree in automotive technology.
Upon returning to Saipan after graduating, he then worked for the corporation for six months. His father then “forced” him to go back to college to earn a bachelor’s degree in business, which he successfully earned from Heald College in Hayward, California.
Yumul admits that, at the time, he kind of hated being “forced” to go to college twice, but now concedes he wouldn’t be where he is right now if he hadn’t done that.
“I hated school so much, but I thank my dad,” he said.
These days, Yumul is not just a board member of YCO Corporation, but is also an automotive technology instructor at the Northern Marianas Technical Institute—a post he has held since 2018.
He shares his story with his students and tells them what he went through. “I talk to my students about how work is and how to manage a business, and that is all because of my time working with my dad,” he said.
Yumul acknowledges that many YCO Corporation employees contributed a lot to the success of not just the business but his own success as well. That’s because growing up with the family business also meant growing up with their employees.
Every summer, he and his brothers and a cousin would work alongside their employees at the YCO Hardware where the Liberty Department Store now stands. They always had a piece of cloth in hand to wipe the dust off every single merchandise in the store.
“It was an awesome experience because I worked with a lot of them as I grew up in the business and I was fortunate to know them, and that’s why I get teary-eyed now,” he said.
For the holiday season, Yumul said they always threw big Christmas parties for the employees. “The Christmas party was always huge. There were a lot of employees. Back then, we had about 180 employees, I think,” he said.
Throughout the years, he said, his connection to their employees has only grown. Recognizing their commitment, loyalty and hard work, he said YCO Corporation employees are the backbone of what has kept the corporation going throughout the years.
“Thank you very much because, without you, we are not going to be successful. This is not a one-man operation. The company is very successful [because of] that,” he said.
