4 minutes with… Michele Bremer, Technical and Executive Recruiter, Bremer Associates

Tell us about your company and it’s role in the Advanced Bioeconomy.

As principal in Bremer Associates I recruit technical and executive talent for companies in biofuels, bio-based chemicals, and related industries. Clients range from start-ups to Fortune 50 companies, with searches from specialized technical expertise to C-level leadership.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

As uncertain oil prices impact both the traditional and bio-based industries, my role will be to support my clients in getting the most value from every hire, both over the next 12 months and beyond. When companies have less to spend than was the case a year ago, it becomes even more important than usual to identify people who are flexible, versatile, and realistic — as well as being good fits for each client’s specific needs.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?  

Obviously the bio-based industry needs to become cost-competitive with fossil-based industries. We need to be seen as a viable industry, not a public charity.

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change? 

I would like to see a merit-based, level playing field where companies are rewarded for results, not just great sounding ideas or political connections. The industry needs to clean up its image as the recipient of extravagant levels of funding with no corresponding levels of achievement.

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?  

I want to be part of an industry-wide team pursuing the goals of good stewardship and ingenious use of the resources available to us.

Where are you from? 

I grew up in rural and coastal New England, exploring forests and meadows and any body of water I could reach. (I also spent a lot of time in my local library.)

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway?

As a liberal arts undergrad (Sarah Lawrence) I majored in mathematics and design. Twelve credits of organic chemistry at NYU (remember Morrison and Boyd??) got me hopelessly hooked on understanding biological processes at the level of chemistry, and I pursued an MS (Columbia) and PhD (UMass) in nutrition science.

Who do you consider your mentors – could be personal, business, or just people you have read about and admire. What have you learned from them?

My parents taught me to enjoy a strong work ethic, to appreciate the beauty of nature, and to be curious. Joan Gussow, a Columbia professor, taught all her students to seek good data and to query the influences on data — what were the assumptions, was the data reproducible, and what was the agenda of the funding source(s).

Jack Wehman was BASF’s Director of Capital and Conceptual Planning, with corporate responsibility for capital management, energy management, site master-planning and capital project/process conceptual review functions. Jack taught me that we need to think of all molecules as potentially valuable starting materials, rather than as waste, and that industry needs to re-orient around the most promising starting materials. He also taught me to organize my own observations and to value them as promising starting material in my professional work.

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?  

After earning both recognition and a great deal of money recruiting technical people during the internet bubble, I realized that “my” industry had pretty much vanished. I regrouped and decided that as I rebuilt my business, I would only work for clients in industry where the primary satisfaction came from supporting worthy goals, with monetary considerations secondary. I learned that not only was work in alternative energy and bio-based technology industries more interesting, I was also much better at filling technical and executive needs for clients whose values and goals matched my own.

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry?

I run a Boy Scout character and leadership training program that teaches adolescents how to coach younger kids in equestrian vaulting — somewhat like trick riding. I recharge my batteries swimming, hiking, and in a triumph of hope over experience, gardening at 7000′.

What are 3 books you’d want to have with you, if you were stranded on a desert island

Edible Plants of the Pacific Islands

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (which MUST include the poems)

Greek/English Bible; which would be spiritual nourishment AND a great way to study an ancient language!

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?  

Good to Great, Built to Last — I reread these classics regularly

The Peasant Prince — a biography of my Revolutionary War hero ancestor, Thaddeus Kosciuszko

The Long Way Home — an art-related mystery set on the banks of the St. Lawrence Seaway

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

I love exploring mountains here in Colorado and elsewhere, and sailing around islands and coastlines in New England, the Chesapeake Bay, and Florida.