Six Cebuano entrepreneurs were the recipients of the Grand Chamber Awards last night.
Bunny Pages, chairman and chief executive officer of Pages Holdings, Inc., led the awardees as Entrepreneur of the Year.
Other awardees were: Engr. Leonora B. Salvane, general manager of GT Cosmetics Manufacturing, as Countryside Entrepreneur; Prisca Niña O. Mabatid, president and chief executive officer of Pinoycare Visa Center, as Small Business Entrepreneur in the service sector; Marlon R. Gochan, managing proprietor of Cebu’s Original Lechon Belly, as Small Business Entrepreneur in the food sector; Kaiser Christopher F. Tan, president and chief executive officer of Kaiser Urban Development Corp., as Young Entrepreneur; and Nini Jose S. Tiongko, Jr., general manager of San Jose Bakeshop, as Young Entrepreneur for Innovation.
The Grand Chamber Awards, held last night, marked the culmination of the Cebu Business Month, an annual event organized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The award recognizes and rewards outstanding Cebuano entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exemplary performances in their field of business and applied ethical practices that reflect the ideal example of a Cebuano entrepreneur, the chamber said.
Salvane, a chemical engineer, made soap as a hobby. She founded GT Cosmetics in Liloan town in 1994, according to the company’s website. The soaps were unnamed until 1996, when Salvane decided on GT as a brand.
GT soaps in three variants – papaya, carrot and bleaching – are sold in major stores. GT ventured into the export market with a shipment to Finland in 2011.
Mabatid started Pinoycare in a small office, providing visa assistance to individuals and families wishing to migrate to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Pinoycare now has offices in key cities nationwide as well as in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, the company’s website stated.
Gochan pioneered the lechon belly (roasted pork belly) in 2011 by deboning the pork belly and spicing it up before roasting it. Gochan has opened outlets throughout Cebu City as well as in Manila, Davao and Iloilo.
Tan founded Kaiser Estates in 2008 to focus on pocket residential developments in Metro Cebu. Kaiser has projects in Guadalupe, Lahug, Banilad, Mabolo and Mandaue, among others. The company’s first low-cost project, Graceland Homes, offered almost 200 house-and-lot units in Mactan.