Thomas G. Shimizu, General Manager, Ambros Inc., Marianas Pacific Distributors Inc., Shimbros International Inc., and South Pacific Distributors Inc., was named the Guam Business Magazine 2022 Executive of the Year at a packed gala held Feb. 11 at the Hyatt Regency Guam.Shimizu graduated from Father Duenas Memorial School in 1987. He then attended St. Louis University where he graduated in 1991 with a bachelor’s of science in business administration. While in college, he interned at the Anheuser Busch Partners in Productivity, where he participated in consulting to Anheuser Busch Distributors to help improve profitability of their operations. Following graduation in 1991, he began his upward career with Ambros, first as IT manager, reviewing several computer systems for Ambros. He then rotated to different divisions in the company, including operations, and eventually went on to lead the Marianas Pacific Distributors in Saipan as manager. At each position, he was able to, among other things, make improvements to the system, increasing efficiency, reduce costs and improve performance.
In 1995, he became the general manager for Ambros Inc. Guam, where he remains today. At the helm, he continued to make improvements, reflected in the increased revenue from $35 million in 2001 to $70 million in 2020. He has implemented a growth strategy for the company via addition of new products and expansion of new territories for existing products, including establishing branch operations in American Samoa. Shimizu has also served for many years in various community organizations, including as the director of the Northern Marianas Asset Acquisition Inc. Board of Directors (2019 - 2020); director of Guam Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (2019-present); director of the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association Board of Directors (2004 - 2005); and Bank Pacific board of directors member (2021- present).
In addition, Ambros Inc. continues its support of community events and nonprofit organizations. Shimizu is featured on the cover of the Guam Business Magazine January-February issue, which was released at the gala.
Shimizu joined six other executives in vying for the prestigious award: Frank A. Cruz, Vice President and General Manager of Guam Fast Foods Inc., which does business as KFC Guam and Sbarro Guam; Jimmy T.C. Hau, President, Mobil Oil Guam Inc., President, Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc. and President, Mobil Oil Micronesia Inc;. Charles B. Hazzard III, President, CEO and Project Director, DZSP 21; Charlie S. Hermosa, General Manager, Guam-Micronesia, APL; President, Bella Wings Aviation; and President, Hermosa Ventures LLC, which does business as Guam Gift Baskets; Siska S. Hutapea, Founder and President of Cornerstone Valuation Guam Inc.; and Ken Yanagisawa, General Manager, the Tsubaki Tower and Hotel Nikko Guam; President/Director, PHR Management Inc.; Managing Director, Ken Real Estate Lease Ltd. Past Executive of the Year recipients include Robert H. Jones of Triple J Enterprises Inc. (1983); John M. Borlas of IT&E Overseas Inc. (1984); Philip J. Flores of BankPacific (1985); Doris Flores Brooks of the Office of Public Accountability (1986); Mark V. Pangilinan of M.V. Pangelinan Enterprises Inc. (1987); Allen A. Pickens of Tax-Aide (1988); the late T. Roy Sullivan of Jones & Guerrero Co. (1989); Kurt S. Moylan of Moylan’s Insurance (1990); the late Akira “Mike” Baba of Baba Corp. (1991); Paul M. Calvo of Calvo Enterprises Inc. (1992); Antoinette D. Sanford of Sanford Technology Group (1993); the late Kenneth T. Jones of Jones & Guerrero Co. (1994); the late Edward M. Calvo of Calvo Enterprises Inc. (1995); L. Carl Peterson of Money Resources Inc. (1996); William R. Thompson (1997) of Atkins Kroll Inc.; the late John K. Lee of First Hawaiian Bank (1998); the late Henry L. Schnabel of Calvo’s Insurance Underwriters (1999); Marian Aldan-Pierce of DFS Saipan (2000); Manfred H. Pieper of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia (2001); Thomas G. Ahillen of Asia Pacific Solutions LLC (2002); Juan T. Guerrero of Herman’s Modern Bakery Inc. (2003); Joseph M. Crisostomo of Cars Plus LLC, Cycles Plus and Payless Car Rental (2004); Joseph “Jerry” Kramer of Pacific International Inc. (2004); David M. Sablan of Century Group of Companies (2005); the late Alfred C. Ysrael of Tanota Partners (2006); Lee P. Webber of MDA Guam (2007); Laura-Lynn V. Dacanay of First Hawaiian Bank (2008); Jerry Cho Yee Tan of Tan Holdings Inc. (2009); Lourdes A. “Lou” Leon Guerrero of Bank of Guam (2010); Jay R. Shedd of IT&E (2011); Jerrold C. Johnson of Hawaiian Rock Products (2012); George Chiu of Tan Holdings (2013); Norman T. Tenorio of Joeten Enterprises Inc., Pacifica Insurance Underwriters Inc., Tropical Instant Press Inc., Saipan Shipping Co., Saipan Stevedore and Advance Carrier (2014); Jeffrey B. Jones of Triple J Enterprises Inc. (2015); Jose C. “Joe” Ayuyu of McDonald’s of Guam and Saipan, RJ Corp. and RJ Guam LLC (2016); Leonard K. Kaae Sr., senior vice president and general manager, Black Construction Corp. (2017); Bernadette N. Valencia, vice president and general manager of for Micronesia and Okinawa, Matson Navigation Inc. (2018); Annmarie T. Muna, president and general manager of AM Insurance (2019); and Edward G. Untalan, executive vice president and Guam-CNMI region manager of First Hawaiian Bank (2021).
This year’s Executive of the Year gala was sponsored by IT&E, Pacific Points, Ambros, APL, Bella Wings, Cornerstone Evaluation, Docomo Pacific, KFC, Mobil, The Tsubaki Tower, Hotel Nikko Guam, Triple J, Coast360, Coca-Cola, Foremost, the Guam Daily Post, Shooting Star Productions and Hyatt Regency Guam. For additional information or inquiries, please contact Maureen Maratita, publisher of Guam Business Magazine at (671) 649-0883 ext. 128 or email publisher@glimpsesofguam.com. mbj