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Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Cebuano gets award for entrepreneurship
Cebuano entrepreneur and Sun.Star columnist Wilson Ng bagged the award for Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines in the Small Business Category during the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) Philippines 2004 Awards held at Makati Shangri-La Hotel last Feb. 24.
Ng, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Ng Khai Development Corp., was recognized for creating programs to help the Visayas and northern Mindanao become attractive outsourcing sites for investors, and for turning his computer software firm into a provider of integrated information technology (IT) business solutions and products in the southern Philippines, said the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) in a statement.
Ng was the only Cebuano among the 17 finalists in the EOY Philippines search this year, which was contested in six categories.
Socorro Ramos, founder and general manager of National Bookstore Inc., received the award for woman entrepreneur for her exceptional leadership. She will be the country’s representative to the World Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Monte Carlo, Monaco in May.
The other category winners were Rodrigo Rivera, chairman and CEO of RD Corp., agribusiness entrepreneur; Cecilio Pedro, president and CEO of Lamoiyan Corp., socially responsible entrepreneur; Tomas Meneses, founding chairman and CEO of Tynor Drug House Inc., emerging master entrepreneur; and Felipe Gozon, chairman, president and CEO of GMA Network Inc., master entrepreneur.
This is only the second staging of the EOY Philippines. The EOY was launched in the country last year by SGV Foundation Inc.
Ng, who is a CCCI trustee and writes a weekly IT column for Sun.Star, said he did not expect to win because he was up against other finalists who were “very successful,” like the founders of Hapee Toothpaste and Red Ribbon.
He said the judges had made a good decision in picking Ramos of National Bookstore as the country’s representative to the World EOY in May.
“If there’s anybody that would have a chance to win in the world (competition), it would be (Ramos),” he said.
He cited her being a woman, being 81 and still managing the country’s dominant bookstore chain, which she had started from scratch, as the factors going for her.
The country’s first representative to the world competition last year, Tony Tan Caktiong, chairman and chief executive officer of Jollibee Foods Corp., ended up bagging the world title.
The judging criteria for the EOY Philippines search included employee numbers, profit, growth in turnover, degree of innovation, development of creative and ingenious production, marketing and selling techniques, and extent of expansion into local and international markets.
Two Cebuanos, Jay Aldeguer of Islands Souvenirs and Steve Benitez of Bo’s Coffee Club, were finalists in the 2003 EOY Philippines search.
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry commended Ng for his achievement, calling him “an inspiration to all entrepreneurs as they continually promote and excel in their business ventures.”
Ng also received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the CCCI during its 9th Grand Chamber Awards 2004 in June. (CTL)
(March 2, 2005 issue)
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