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Takashi “Chris” Bamba, President and COO
 Takashi “Chris” Bamba has been with KWE for over 35 years, starting in Japan in 1973. He has held numerous positions, initially as a liaison for shipments between Japan and the USA. Then he has spent over 25 years working at KWE USA with positions as Assistant Terminal (Branch) Manager in San Francisco, Terminal Manager in Philadelphia and Boston. He was Regional Vice President in charge of the Central Region stationed in Chicago for his 2nd nine years assignment in USA. His 3rd USA assignment started from North West Region in San Francisco from 2003 and moved to Dallas.
Mr. Bamba has worked a total of ten years at KWE in Japan.
He and his wife have one daughter.
Gerard Berger, Vice President, Operations
 Gerard "Gerry" Berger began his transportation career with KWE in 1983 at the Cleveland Office. Gerry has held numerous positions at KWE over the past 20 years including Operations Manager and Terminal Manager of the Cleveland Office, Assistant Vice-President of the Central Region, Vice-President of the Trans-Atlantic Region, and his current position as Vice-President of Operations.
Since being appointed as VP Operations, Gerry has focused his efforts towards the implementation of KWE's new global computer system throughout the KWE/USA network, operations standardization, and gateway operations.
Gerry is a graduate of Cleveland's St. Ignatius High School and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on International Marketing from Cleveland State University.
Nelson T. Coe, Senior Vice President, South Region
 Nelson T. Coe is the VP of the East Sales Region and a member of the Board of Directors. Nelson has had over 18 years of Logistics and industry related experience most of which has been on the International side dealing with Imports and Exports, both air and ocean.
Currently Nelson is responsible for all Import, Export, Customer Brokerage, Sales and Operational activities for the East Region. This Region covers from Texas all the way east to the Carolinas and south to Florida. In addition, he is responsible for the terminal in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the Latin America Gateway Terminal in Miami.
Previously, Nelson spent 3 years as Assistant Vice President for Kintetsu's Central Region and Terminal Manager of the Cleveland office. He was also the Terminal Manager in Cincinnati for 3 years and before that was based out of the JFK Office for 4 years as Sales Manager in the Air Export Department.
Before Nelson joined Kintetsu he worked for other service providers such as Emery Worldwide and BAX Global, in a Sales capacity, covering areas mostly in New York and Connecticut.
Nelson spent several years proudly serving our country in the United States Marines. He achieved several commendations as well as meritorious promotions in his seven plus years in the Marines. Nelson was Honorably Discharged in 1984 with the final rank of Staff Sergeant.
Dave Cohen, Vice President, Global Strategic Customers(GSC)
 Mr. Cohen currently serves as Vice President of Corporate Sales and Marketing for the Americas. A 27 year global logistics veteran, Mr. Cohen began his career in 1979 with Emery Airfreight, and after various sales and operations assignments there and at several other logistics service providers, joined KWE in 1995 as Corporate Compliance Manager. In 1997 he became Director of Compliance and Corporate Customs Officer, overseeing the operations and sales of the company's Customs Brokerage and Regulatory Compliance products.
Mr. Cohen assumed his current position in 2004, with primary responsibilities for the sales and management of KWE's Global Strategic Customers (GSC), including the development of specialized solutions to meet the exacting requirements of today's global enterprises. The Corporate Sales and Marketing Group also manages the RFQ response and process, updates the KWE USA website, prepares sales presentation materials and issues the KWE Industry Update, a monthly bulletin containing timely information for KWE clients.
Mr. Cohen holds a Bachelors degree in International Relations from UCLA and a Customs Broker License from the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
Tsutomu "Tomo" Ikeda, Vice President, Ocean
 Mr. Ikeda has been with KWE U.S.A. since 1982. During his years in the US, Mr. Ikeda has worked at the San Francisco, Denver, Portland and Los Angeles terminals. He has proven success in sales and operations, especially as they pertain to Japan and Far East countries, in various North American markets. In January 2002, Mr. Ikeda was appointed Vice President of Ocean. His current responsibilities include OTI business for KWE U.S.A., compliance with FMC rules and regulations, engagement in service contracts with ocean carriers and development of ocean products and logistics business.
Mr. Ikeda earned his B.S. degree from San Francisco State University in International Business with an emphasis on International Business Environmental Analysis, Management of Multinational Business Operations and International Law. Additionally, he has also participated in several advanced seminars and various managements courses pertaining to the transportation industry.
James Kagawa, Vice President, IT Solutions
 Mr. Kagawa began his transportation career with KWE in 1981 in sales and operations for the newly opened San Diego Terminal. In 1983 he became the Terminal Manager of the SAN office. Afterwards, he was transferred to Cleveland in 1986 as Terminal Manager, 1989 to Dallas as regional manager for Texas and in 1991 to New York as East Regional VP. In 1993 Mr. Kagawa was assigned for reorganization of the Information Technology Department as Asst Vice President at US Corp. HQ in NY.
After successful reorganization and new system and infrastructure project completion, Mr. Kagawa was promoted to Vice President of Information Technology. In 1996 he relocated to the Los Angeles office where he manages America’s region IT organization and worldwide IT investment and strategies.
Mr. Kagawa has held varying management capacity within KWE during his career. He is a graduate of California State Univ., Fresno with B.A. degree in Geography.
Kat Nanto, Senior Vice President, Central Region
 Mr. Nanto has been with KWE since 1983 with brief internship works for his MBA with KWEMSP in 1981/82. Before becoming the Senior Vice President of the Central Region, Mr. Nanto served as the Senior Director and Terminal Manager of the Chicago Export and Detroit Branches in the 1990s. He also worked in the sales department of Chicago and Cleveland Branches in the 1980s. During this time, Mr. Nanto accrued expertise in airfreight sales and profit maximization. Additionally, Mr. Nanto served as the management representative for ISO 9002 Certification for the Chicago Terminal. Currently, he overseas 8 branches in Central Region and is a member of the Board of Directors.
Kat Nanto attended Minnesota State University where he earned his MBA, Masters Degree in Business Administration.
Sean Ogawa, Vice President, East Region
Mr. Ogawa joined KWE Japan in 1986 doing Air Export Sales, Strategic Customer Management, Global RFQ Coordination, Asia Ocean Region Sales Management until he transferred to the US. In January 2000, Mr. Ogawa transferred to Dallas, TX to take up the Branch Manager position. In 2002, he then transferred to Atlanta, GA as Branch Manager for that branch. He was then assigned as Sales Director of East Region in 2007. His responsibilities then shifted to New Jersey as of July 2008.
Thomas B. Smith, Senior Vice President, West Region
 Thomas "Tom" Smith has extensive experience in International Forwarding and Logistics business, having joined KWE in 1983. Smith also worked as a District Manager for Pandair, a major European based forwarder, acquired by Air Express International in 1987.
Mr. Smith has held numerous positions at KWE over the last 25 years, including Sales Manager and Branch Manager positions in San Diego, National Account Branch Manager in San Francisco, Assistant Vice President of the West Region, V.P. of Global Strategic Customers, Vice President of Corporate Sales and Marketing and finally his current position in Rancho Dominguez, CA as Senior Vice President, West Region. As the Regional VP of the West, Mr. Smith oversees operations at our Los Angeles Export, Los Angeles Import, San Francisco Export, San Francisco Import, San Diego, Denver, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco Ocean, Long Beach Ocean, Rancho Dominguez Logistics, and Santa Fe Springs Logistics branches.
Smith was elected to KWE U.S.A.'s Board of Directors as a member in March of 2002. He holds an Associate Degree in Flight Operations and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Economics from San Diego State University.
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