CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — For SupportZebra Chief Executive Officer Nathan Yap, business in Cagayan de Oro is deeply personal—it is the community where his family roots lie.

What started as a homegrown local enterprise has now merged with Lean Solutions Group, opening new global career horizons for local professionals while keeping its heart firmly in Northern Mindanao.

"Niño and I are first cousins, and CDO is where our parents grew up. So, it's very near and dear to our hearts. So, being able to create opportunity and jobs with LSG is very gratifying to both of us," Yap said.

The acquisition preserves 100 percent of SupportZebra's local jobs, providing seamless continuity for team members. Beyond securing local positions, the partnership aims to elevate Cagayan de Oro talent onto the international stage.

"Our goal earlier in our first town hall today was really sharing the talent and the people of CDO globally, not just here... Where now they have opportunities to move to LatAm, or move to Europe, or move to the Middle East to open up new offices and bring that CDO talent, which I'm very proud of, to not just the US, but globally," Yap said.

Lean Solutions Group leadership echoed that strong belief in the local workforce, highlighting the high standard of operations built in the city over the past decade.

"We're very, very excited to partner with Nathan... he's spent over the last 10 years, him and Niño, developing what is—we believe is to be a best-in-class delivery organization here in CDO," said Jeff Aldaz, Chief Operating Officer of Lean Solutions Group.

Beyond business expansion, the leadership team reinforced their commitment to giving back to the community where their story began. To mark the milestone, executives presented a 100,000-peso donation to the Calabrian Children's Foundation, combining corporate funds and personal contributions to support abandoned and neglected youth.

"Community involvement has been a very, very big part of SupportZebra's mission and DNA from the very beginning, from day one... Niño and I, our parents grew up here. They grew up in Balulang, and so they're very, very local to CDO, and that home-grown tag—we mean it. It's not just words... excited with Lean where it's not, 'Hey, what cost can we cut here?' No, 'How can we make this impact bigger?" Yap said.