Cebu Trade Group Picks Mass Housing Leader as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’

The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has chosen Luis Yu Jr., chairman emeritus of the company behind the mass housing brand Deca Homes, as this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Yu leads the roster of awardees of CCCI’s 24th Grand Chamber Awards which will be awarded Thursday night during the culmination of the month-long “Cebu Business Month 2016: Digital Cebu” at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.

The Grand Chamber Awards recognizes individuals who serve as role models for Cebuanos to level up and become globally competitive while maintaining CCCI’s core values of integrity, commitment and synergy.

Yu is one of the founders of 8990 Holdings Inc., a company organized as a joint venture among three partners, namely, Yu, Mariano Martinez Jr. and JJ Atencio.

The company was founded on the vision of offering reasonably priced and quality houses in the countryside through mass housing.

Yu, who holds a master’s degree in business management from the Asian Institute of Management, has more than 30 years’ experience managing and heading companies engaged in mass housing subdivision development.

The listed company, which focused on building residential properties in provinces, began modestly in 1991 in Cagayan de Oro City with its first project, Villa Candida.

The company’s entry to Cebu City was through Deca Homes Bacayan and in Davao City with its Deca Homes Cabantian.

The CCCI said the company is producing 6,000 units a year and is projected to double its production in five years to 12,000 units per year and also double its sales to Php12 billion in five years.

The 8990 pioneered a pre-cast construction technology, which enables them to construct townhouses and single-storey attached units in just 10 days and turn over the units to its customers in a fast and efficient way.

The 8990 Holdings Inc. was awarded the Pag-IBIG Fund’s 2015 Top Developer Corporate-wide in takeout value and a special award for the “Most Number of Members Served.”

Other awardees this year are Wellington Chanlim, president of Wellisa Farms as Countryside Entrepreneur; Dr. Alvin Roxas, president of Yakski BBQ, Inc. as Small Business Entrepreneur; and Anya Lim, creative and managing director of Anthill Fabric Gallery as Young Entrepreneur.

The chamber will also award Thursday night Juanito King & Sons Inc. as the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Institution of the Year, while a special citation will be given to Tsuneishi Heavy Industries as Economic Driver in Western Cebu. (PNA) PGL/EB/EBP