In an announcement that caused uproar Guam Business named two executives of the year for the first time in the 22-year history of the award program.

Joseph "Jerry" Kramer chief executive officer of Pacific International Inc. and Joey Crisostomo president of Cars Plus and Cycles Plus were named joint 2004 Executives of the Year.

The announcement — kept secret by Guam Business until the gala – was made before almost 300 people at a packed gala dinner at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa on Jan. 22.

The executive of the year is chosen in a process that tallies votes from each of the former executives of the year and the publisher and editor of the magazine.

The proceeds of the gala are a major fundraiser for the Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross. This year’s theme – "The Apprentice" after the reality TV show was hosted by Ray Gibson morning talk show host at K57; Travis Coffman host of K57’s afternoon talk show The Big Show; and Alberto C. "Tony" Lamorena V general manager of the Guam Visitors Bureau. Kramer was working as an environmental test technician for research and development testing of missile guidance system components for Douglas Aircraft when he went to work on Nike Zeus missile Army testing in Kwajalein.

Kramer began to ship goods to the Marshall Islands from Guam and sell copra to the agent for Atkins Kroll.

He formed Lagoon Aviation in Majuro with a single engine floatplane to perform emergency medical service and evacuations from the outer islands of the Marshalls and to provide limited air service. That eventually led to the government-owned Air Marshall Islands. Kramer is a member of the board.

He is founder and board member of Toblar Copra Processing Plant Inc. chairman of the board of Waffle-Crete International of Hays Kansas chairman of the board of Pacific International (Guam) Inc. and Pacific International (Saipan) Inc. and a member of the board of Kramer Corp. Saipan. His companies have worked on many development projects for the Marshall Islands.

In 2003 Kramer purchased the Servco and Camacho interests in the Majuro Shopping Center and purchased and shipped to Majuro the fish freezer from Tinian Harbor. Further expansion moves included the purchase of the former Shimizu holdings of 279 acres in Saipan at Laulau Bay Saipan in 2002; and purchase of Nimitz Towers in Guam in 2002.

Kramer served on numerous government and statutory boards over the years including the Majuro Cooperative School of which he was founder; the Marshall Islands Nutrition & Children’s Council; the Majuro Chamber of Commerce of which he is a several-time past president; the Marshall Islands Manpower Advisory Board of which he is a past chairman the U.S. Federal Job Training Partnership Act program of which he is a past chairman; and the Marshall Islands Tax Code Drafting Committee.

Pacific International is a strong supporter of a variety of youth-related and community efforts.

Most recently Kramer and Pacific International in 2004 purchased the controlling ownership in the former Outrigger Marshall Islands Resort now the Marshall Islands Resort Hotel Pacific International in 2004 also purchased the New Century Hotel in Guam in March; became the general service agent in the Marshall Islands for Air Nauru; and secured the agency in the Marshall Islands for Aon and Century Insurance Co.

Crisostomo spent his adolescent and adult life involved with motorcycles and cars first working as sales manager of Island Imports selling Suzuki cars and motorcycles and Isuzu trucks. He later moved to a sales manager’s position with the Wolfe Automotive Group in Boise Idaho

From Idaho the Crisostomo family spent time in Tennessee then moved to Kona Hawaii where Crisostobecame sales manager of Big Island Toyota.

When the Guam Motorcycle Club invited him to return for a race that sparked an offer from Triple J Motors in late 1991 and in 1992 and Crisostomo became general manager of Triple J Motors Guam.

Joey stayed with Triple J for five years before moving to Keico Motors becoming general manager. Despite a bad economy in 1999 Crisostomo opened Cars Plus LLC as a used-car dealership and the authorized Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge service center. A year later it acquired exclusive distributorship of the totally re-engineered Hyundai line followed by the Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge franchise in 2001 followed by the addition of Payless Rental cars. Crisostomo’s sentimental goal to sell motorcycles became a reality in 2003 when he opened Cycles Plus. Recently Crisostomo was selected as an independent board member of the DaVinci group new owners of the Guam Hilton Resort & Spa.

Crisostomo and his companies support numerous community and sporting endeavors. MBJ