Persona Guam named JA Guam Company of the Year

Sunday, January 29, 2023 – Tumon, Guam

Junior Achievement Guam hosted the annual awards banquet for the 2022-2023 Company Program on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at the Dusit Thani Resort Guam Ballroom.  Ten (10) JA Guam companies persevered through the 16-week program learning the pillars of financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship.  Our high school students were mentored by business professionals representing various industries on island.  They created a business, brainstormed, and developed products, worked on marketing strategies, and sold their products.  Upon completion of the program, they were taught how to liquidate the business.

The students competed in the JA Guam Company of the Year competition held on Saturday, January 28, 2023, at the Micronesia Mall Center Court.  The competition consisted of five stages:  the development of a :60 second commercial, the annual report, booth presentation, interview with the judges, and an on-stage business presentation. Persona Guam sponsored by Title Guaranty of Guam took top honors and succeeded their predecessors, Fouha Crafts giving their sponsored company back-to-back titles.  Maila Ta Fan Dana, sponsored by GTA, finished in second place while Fu’una of Tiyan High School’s GCC DECA program was awarded the third place trophy.  Each officer of Persona Guam received a $500.00 scholarship from ASC Trust in recognition of their achievement.  “I am very proud of our team’s performance and hope that we represent Guam as well as our predecessors in the JA Asia Pacific Company of the Year competition.” stated Noyal Joby Kodiyamplakkal, Title Guaranty of Guam’s Vice President of Marketing.

The President of the Year award was bestowed upon Maila Ta Fan Dana’s Alex Gayle.  Gineggue’s Lisa Herbert took second honors from Southern High School’s GCC Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program while Wenny Xu of Persona placed third.  Gayle was ecstatic about winning the top individual award, “I feel pretty good about the achievement.  This award validates all the hard work we put into the program.  It’s satisfying and feels great.  I’m so proud of my team’s performance and I wish all the others teams all the best.”

The following are the list of awardees:

Marketing Vice President of the Year

1. Noyal Joby Kodiyamplakkal of Persona Guam sponsored by Title Guaranty of Guam
2. Shane Shed of Fides Association sponsored by Triple J Enterprise
3. Lisa Beck of Kosta sponsored by Graphic Center

Production Vice President of the Year

1. Hailey Pangelinan of Maila Ta Fan Dana sponsored by GTA
2. Andria Leon Guerrero of Gineggue from Southern High School GCC GCC Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program
3. Aaleyah Masga of Fu’una from Tiyan High School GCC GCC Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program

Finance Vice President of the Year

1. Maria Calvo of Persona Guam sponsored by Title Guaranty of Guam
2. Brian Galang of Hasso’ sponsored by Dusit Thani Resort Guam
3. Matthew Camacho of Kosta sponsored by Graphic Center

Product of the Year

1. Maila Tan Fan Dana sponsored by GTA
2. Persona Guam sponsored by Title Guaranty of Guam
3. Fu’una from Tiyan High School GCC Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program

Best in Annual Report

1. Kosta sponsored by Graphic Center
2. Maila Ta Fan Dana sponsored by GTA
3. Untold Guam sponsored by Bank of Hawaii

Best Commercial

1. Persona Guam sponsored by Title Guaranty of Guam
2. Laguna Fortuna sponsored by Cabras Marine
3. Kosta sponsored by Graphic Center

Best in Show

1. Fu’una from Tiyan High School GCC GCC Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program
2. Maila Ta Fan Dana sponsored by GTA
3. Hasso’ sponsored by Dusit Thani Resort Guam

Best Financial Practices

1. Untold sponsored by Bank of Hawaii
2. Maila Ta Fan Dana sponsored by GTA
3. Kosta sponsored by Graphic Center

Philanthropy Award

1. Persona sponsored by Title Guaranty of Guam
2. Gineggue from Southern High School GCC Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program
3. Fides Association sponsored by Triple J Enterprise

JA Guam Board Chairperson Joey Miranda III stated, “This year’s event was the first in person awards presentation post pandemic.  The students showed their tenacity, perseverance and understanding of how a business module is prepared and carried out.  They worked through adversities, a grueling schedule, and a demanding program and because of this, everyone came out a winner.  This is our future work force, and we believe our future is in good hands.”  Miranda went on to express his sincere gratitude to the members of the JA Board, judges, partners, company sponsors and most especially the mentors and students who made this year’s program a success.  He further thanked Pinki Lujan, Executive Director of JA Guam for the fantastic work she had done to ensure the students enjoyed the program and the corelating events.

JA Guam extends its appreciation to our company program sponsors and their mentors:  Bank of Hawaii, Cabras Marine Guam, Community First Federal Credit Union, Dusit Thani Resort Guam, Graphic Center, GTA, Title Guaranty of Guam and GTA.  Special thank you to the Guam Community College Secondary Marketing and Visual Communications program from Tiyan High School and Southern High School.

JA Guam would like to thank our partners:  Guam Economic Development Authority, Guam Regional Medical City, SBDC Guam, Bank of Hawaii, Bank of Guam, GTA, Graphic Center, ASC Trust, Deloitte, Citadel Inc., Murphy Enterprises, Calvo’s Insurance, D. Beaver and Associates, GPO, United Airlines and Guam Green Growth.