Alex Perwich is a teacher and entrepreneur at heart, and he’s applying both roles as president of Enactus’ U.S. division. Starting in Springfield on March 10, Perwich worked most recently as a founding executive for Phycal Inc., a bioenergy startup for which he helped raise $70 million in capital and grants. He also is a former associate professor of economics at the U.S. Military Academy and served six years as CEO of Atlanta-based Golden Key International Honour Society, which claims 2 million members across five countries. He succeeds David Emerson, who left Enactus after three months Nov. 1, but Perwich said changes at the top are not indicative of financial woes. Revenue dipped below $13 million in 2012, while expenses approached $14 million, before increasing 25 percent last year to $16.2 million in revenue.
Oil from Algae “Founded by a West Point classmate and dear friend, … Phycal came along as an effort to get oil from algae. … It was an intergrated bioethanol project – a $300 million project, to be delivered in Costa Rica in a joint venture with an unnamed oil company. … The probability of it going forward was very risky. In the end, after I was in touch with Enactus, the oil company decided not to proceed to the next phase. In other words, we completed a feasibility assessment and the project was deemed feasible, but the oil company for x-number of reasons decided not to move forward.”
Prior Connections “When I joined (Golden Key International Honour Society) as CEO, I had an occasion to interact with Bernie Milano, the president of the KPMG Foundation, who has been involved for decades with what is now Enactus. … Fast forward and I was sitting in Costa Rica working on this feasibility study, and I got a two-word email from Bernie Milano that said, ‘Call me.’ I immediately called and thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t this be cool if it had something to do with SIFE?’ In that conversation, among other things, he mentioned that he was aware of a search for this position at Enactus. … He said, ‘Send me your resume.’ I did, and it went into a process. And I was lucky to come out on the other end of that search process.”
Called to Lead “I am personally responsible for everything that Enactus USA does or fails to do. That is what I do. Enactus has a purpose: to enable progress through entrepreneurial action. The model is a triad of business, universities and students, centered on a shared purpose. Through the academic institutions and the students who get involved in Enactus, we motivate them to do things that are entrepreneurial to improve the livelihood of the human beings and communities that their projects touch. It’s not giving a fish. It is teaching people to fish. … ‘En’ is the first part of entrepreneurial. ‘Act’ is action. The triad of businesses, universities and students working together, that’s the ‘us.’ Enactus.”
Snapshot “Enactus, globally, is in 36 countries. We, in the U.S., are the largest component thereof in terms of numbers and teams. … The current overview of Enactus United States, which was founded in 1975, is 518 teams – think of those as colleges or universities – and involves approximately 17,300 students. Those teams have accounted for 2,123 projects. Those projects reflect 540,000 volunteer hours. That’s a snapshot. At our U.S. Expo, which was a four-day event in Cincinnati, March 31–April 3, we had approximately 3,650 attendees. Of those, 2,800 were from the academic sector and 850 were from businesses. The majority of those 2,800 were students on teams competing. … At the Expo, there were 210 teams represented. Those teams presented 1,458 different projects, which accounted for 419,000 service hours.”
The Next Leader “This is not a turnaround. There was a transition in the president role (for what) was SIFE. There was a name change (and) it has gone from a U.S.-based company to one that is now in 36 countries. So, there has been significant expansion, significant change. Yes, there has been a need for additional talent and different talent. In my case, there was a vacancy. (Donna Patterson) who previously headed up the U.S. for a number of years is now the head of global fundraising. (Enactus CEO) Alvin [Rohrs] also brought in (Dan Booher as) chief operations officer because we have to align processes, systems and people for the global reality at Enactus and to springboard it into the future. But it is far from a turnaround.”
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
