Coming Home
By Danny Lachica '71

To return to the Philippines at some point in time, perhaps when I shall have retired, was a dream devoutly to be wished. By some stroke of luck, extremely good luck, a headhunter called me for a job based in the Philippines as the President and Chief Executive Officer of a joint venture between a Japanese and an American company. Seiko Epson Corporation, known for watches and computer peripherals, and Iomega Corporation intended to build a plant in the Philippines to build Zip drives.

The interview process was a blur. The headhunter called on a Thursday. I was interviewed the following Monday. I got an offer that Wednesday. I have never been part of a 1-week turnaround for a high level hiring up until then. Better than that, it took me a whole 30-seconds to decide that I would accept the position. Of course, I did not tip my hand right away to leverage my benefits negotiations.

Iomega Corporation is a $1.2 B (1996 revenue) company based in Roy, Utah, offering personal data storage solutions. They manufacture the Ditto tape drives, the Jaz 1-gigabyte drives and cartridges, and the Zip 100-megabyte drives and cartridges.

After 16 years in the semiconductor industry, I was concerned about straying outside my expertise and comfort zone. However, the prospect of returning to my native land overcame whatever reservations I had. So much for phased transition.

It's been over a year since I set foot on Manila as an expatriate. Several major events have transpired. Our negotiations with Seiko Epson broke off. Iomega ended up taking over our the Philippine operations. As the General Manager of Iomega Philippines, I am responsible for 23 Iomega staff members and over 500 sub-contract personnel. We have ramped up by 300% . The Philippine operations will produce enough Zip drives to support nearly $1B in sales.

As if the Philippine operation was not keeping me busy, most recently I was asked to help our Penang factory which is Iomega's main manufacturing facility. For 2.5 months, I commuted every week between Malaysia and the Philippines. I would leave on Sunday, work in Penang from Monday through Thursday, then return to the Philippines and work Friday through Saturday. You can imagine how glad I was when my Penang replacement came aboard.

As a hobby, I have taught Total Productive Maintenance seminars to senior Philippine executives both at local hotels and at the Asian Institute of Management. Additionally, I have joined a local basketball league; I was the only 40-year running among the 20 year olds. I figured that playing among Beta Sigma alumni in our inter-colors and among my black friends when I was back in the U.S. gave me an edge. It did. The price I had to pay for this (good or bad) is that I am still single and eligible.

My advice to the brods? Let's not forget our roots. Give back what you can, when you can, to what is important to you. As we have been taught during our initiation days, our priorities are God, country, family, & fraternity. Cheerz! § § §

Ed's Note: Danny has incessantly served the frat in many ways, including stints as GP during his UP days and as a hyperactive Betan alumnus of North California. He received a Service Award from his Chapter a few years ago.