In 2023, DeWitt Guam reached a milestone: 40 years in business. We’re both thrilled and proud to recognize this achievement, and we’ll be celebrating it all year long.

First, we want to kick off this celebration with a note of gratitude. Fourty years in operation is a meaningful accomplishment, and we couldn’t have done it without all of the people and the businesses who contributed. They include the customers who placed their trust in us; the team members who contributed their skills, spirit, and expertise; and the leadership who have kept the organization moving forward over four decades.

We also want to honor our founder, the late Richard DeWitt. “Mr. D,” as he was known to many on Guam, was an inspiration to and driving force behind the operation, even as he turned over leadership to the next generation.

John Burrows started with DeWitt Guam as Director of Operations in 1992 and currently leads the organization as CEO along with Corine Berking, President of DeWitt Guam.

To continue the celebration, we wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the unique combination of elements that’s made DeWitt Guam tick for 40 years. Join us as we acknowledge the ingredients to DeWitt Guam’s success.

Work Hard, Have Fun

As a member of The DeWitt Companies, a fourth-generation family of five sister companies, DeWitt Guam embraces the company’s core values: care, honesty, growth, safety and work hard, have fun. Although we practice all five, work hard, have fun lies at the heart of what makes DeWitt Guam special.

“When it’s time to work, everybody works,” notes President Corine Berking. “But when it’s time to have fun, we really focus on trying to make it fun.”

DeWitt Guam’s celebrations throughout Mes Chamoru—also known as Guam History and Chamorro Heritage Month—were a great example of this principle in action. Every Friday for the month of March, the team celebrated an aspect of Guam’s unique culture.

On “Hafa Adai” Friday, for example, the team wore island attire and held a coconut relay contest that incorporated another DeWitt core value, safety, as the team raced to pack the coconut for safe transit. They also held a spirit week celebration that tied in Guam’s local culture and ended the week with a fiesta luncheon filled with local dishes and music.

Berking and the rest of the management team incorporate activities that embody the work hard, have fun spirit at least once a month. Additionally, once a year, the team dedicates a month to focus on another DeWitt core value, safety. In the past, they’ve celebrated with a carnival and, more recently, with a western-themed celebration

“The work we do is hard, but it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun doing it at the same time,” shared CEO John Burrows. “I think we strike a good balance between staying focused and having a little bit of fun along the way.”

An Entrepreneurial Spirit and a Can-Do Attitude

DeWitt Guam got its start in 1983, when Richard DeWitt purchased Coral Transportation and Warehousing Company. Shortly after the purchase and change in ownership, the company changed its name to DeWitt Transportation Services of Guam, Inc.

Today, the operation is known in the community and industry as DeWitt Guam.

As the new venture got off the ground at its location in Piti, the business was primarily focused on working with Department of Defense Transportation Service Providers (TSPs) who were helping military servicemembers and their families move to and from Guam.

Today, DeWitt Guam has grown into a leading transportation company offering a full roster of services that includes:

Behind that growth is an entrepreneurial spirit that infuses the DeWitt Guam operation. As Corine Berking shared, “We’re always trying to look for different opportunities. Our vision is to grow—and not to let ourselves get stagnant.” The team plans to introduce two new lines of business by the end of the year.

“If you’re a competent organization—as DeWitt Guam is now and has been over the years—you can step into a lot of different things and try a lot of different things,” said Eric Zybura, CEO of two other DeWitt Companies, Royal Alaskan Movers and Approved Freight Forwarders. Zybura got his start at the DeWitt Companies in Guam, spending eight years with the operation and rising to the title of Vice President and General Manager.

The long tenure of DeWitt Guam’s employees has also set a solid foundation for the company’s growth. The DeWitt Guam team is 100+ members strong, and 26% of the team has been with the company for 10+ years. “The longevity of our employees has been one of the greatest things about the company,” noted John Burrows.

Earlier this year, DeWitt Guam celebrated its most tenured employee, Cathy Cruz. She joined DeWitt Guam during its very first year in operation, making 2023 her 40th anniversary with the company.

 

That long tenure also extends to DeWitt Guam’s leadership. Burrows has been involved with the company for more than 30 years, and President Corine Berking has spent more than 20 years with DeWitt Guam, all of which has helped the organization set and achieve its long-term goals.

In addition to an entrepreneurial spirit, the DeWitt Guam team is also driven by a can-do attitude that’s allowed them to come up with creative solutions to challenges.

Eric Zybura remembered an all-hands effort to help out the Commissary through a massive supply chain challenge. At the time, an ordering system gone haywire had left the Commissary with several hundred containers at the port, no storage options, and mounting per diem fees. The team came together to save the government a significant amount of money with drayage and warehousing solutions.

Berking recalled a project on which DeWitt Guam was hired as a sub-contractor for an FF&E move at a military hospital. The Project Manager found himself without a disposal solution for either the old FF&E or the waste from the job, which wasn’t eligible for Guam’s landfill.

At the request of the Project Manager, DeWitt Guam put together a solution. The team staged bins, broke down materials, recycled eligible materials, and made provisions for disposal of all of the waste materials

These requests for additional solutions have become commonplace for the operation. As Berking notes, the team always responds with a can-do attitude. As she put it, “If we don’t know how to do it, we’ll figure out a way. My team is very unique in that sense.”

Embracing Local Leadership—and Diversity

The organization’s commitment to local leadership and promoting diversity has also kept its energy strong—and its team inspired—over the years.

“We’re proud to be a local-led business with the majority of our leadership from Guam,” noted Berking. She is originally from Guam, as is

The organization also prides itself on a diverse, inclusive workforce.

“I’m a woman in a leadership role in a transportation company, which is not common in our industry,” Berking noted. The organization also employs several woman packers and is actively looking to build an all-female team, including a woman crew chief and driver.

“When it comes to diversity and inclusion, the company really does practice this. We give opportunities across the board to anyone and everyone who is willing,” Berking shared. “It all goes back to our core values of care and growth.”

A Commitment to Community

Finally, the DeWitt Company value of care is on full display in the ways that DeWitt Guam contributes to the Guam community.

“We love where we work, and we’re always trying to do our part to make the community and the island a little bit better,” noted John Burrows. “Hopefully, that’s contagious.”

DeWitt Guam has been a proud partner of Operation Christmas Drop since 1995. This Department of Defense humanitarian effort airlifts supplies such as food, medicine, books, clothes, toys, and gifts to 50+ remote Pacific islands.

General Manager and Vice President Victor Valenzuela spearheads this effort. He shared that DeWitt Guam is “honored to be a part of this organization year after year. It’s part of our corporate responsibility, and DeWitt Guam loves being involved with efforts like this.”

DeWitt Guam also supports local events such as the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, the United Airlines Plane Pull, and Wreaths Across America.

The company makes additional contributions to the community through nonprofit organizations and charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Kamalen Karidat, Move for Hunger, the Rotary Club of Northern Guam, Toys for Tots, the Guam United Service Organizations, The Salvation Army, the American Cancer Society, and Guam Cancer Care. DeWitt Guam also maintains membership in the Guam Chamber of Commerce, the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and the Guam Contractors Association.

Over its 40 years in operation, DeWitt Guam has become an integral part of the Guam community. By sponsoring and supporting local events, providing job opportunities for residents, and donating our time and resources to assist with community projects, we’ve affirmed our commitment to supporting the island and its residents.

Recognizing Our Founder: Richard DeWitt

Of course, DeWitt Guam wouldn’t be where it is today without our founder, Richard DeWitt. After opening Royal Hawaiian Movers on Oahu in 1982, Richard stopped on Guam for a sales call and heard that Coral Transportation and Warehousing Company was coming up for sale. Richard bought the company, which would become one of the five DeWitt Companies, which currently includes DeWitt Move Worldwide, Royal Hawaiian Movers, Royal Alaskan Movers, Approved Freight Forwarders, and DeWitt Guam.

The company acted as a springboard for John Burrows and Eric Zybura. Both started their moving and transportation careers on Guam and have gone on to leadership roles in The DeWitt Companies.

Eric Zybura, who went out to Guam in 1992 with Burrows when they were both “fresh out of college,” talked about his gratitude for the opportunity that Richard gave him. “His investments, his risk-taking, and his belief in us inspired me, and it made me want to inspire other people,” said Zybura.

The longevity of the company hasn’t been lost on the leaders of the other DeWitt Companies. Michael DeWitt, CEO of Royal Hawaiian Movers, had this to say about the DeWitt Guam Team: “They’re a tremendous group of folks. They take a lot of pride in what they do.”

As the leader of a company based in a similarly isolated archipelago—one that celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022—DeWitt recognizes the challenges of staying operational for so long.

“Guam isn’t always an easy place to do business, being so isolated,” DeWitt commented. “I think that’s part of the uniqueness of the team and the leadership on Guam—their ability to overcome any challenges and prosper as a business.”

 

For those arriving to what might feel like a remote island, the DeWitt name continues to inspire confidence. “After 40 years, the DeWitt name is associated to Guam,” noted Corine Berking. “People who are coming to Guam know they can trust us, thanks to everything that Richard, John, Eric, Mike, and all the leadership of the DeWitt Companies have built.”

The Celebration Continues

Throughout 2023, DeWitt Guam team will continue to recognize this significant milestone—and all the aspects of the operation that have contributed to its longevity and its success. With the guidance of the DeWitt Guam leadership—and the DeWitt Company core values—the team is also looking ahead toward another 40 years of serving the Guam community.

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