LONDON, Sept. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VivoPower International PLC (NASDAQ: VVPR, the “Company”) is pleased to announce the formation of the VivoPower Advisory Council with the objective of helping the Company successfully execute on its strategic pivot to commercial electric vehicles and sustainable energy solutions. In addition, we are delighted to welcome Eric Achtmann as the first member of the Advisory Council.
Based in Boston, Eric is an entrepreneurial executive and board member with a history of exponential value creation in challenging growth and transformation environments. Eric’s established track record of success driving innovation, transformation, and growth spans multiple industries in multi-billion-dollar publicly traded and private companies including Dana Inc, BMW, Airbus, McDonnell-Douglas, McKinsey, and Whitbread PLC / Costa Coffee. Eric began his career as a design and software engineer with BMW and Airbus. He was selected as part of the US Congress’ Lean Aerospace Initiative where he focused on Lean Manufacturing for the F/A-18 Super Hornet Strike Fighter at the highly regarded McDonnell-Douglas Phantom Works. After completing his MS, Aero & Astronautics and MBA in Finance from MIT, Eric was recruited by McKinsey to focus initially on M&A and subsequently pioneered McKinsey’s advanced product development business. He subsequently co-founded and was managing partner of a pan-European venture capital fund and has since engaged in the creation of numerous companies including ReClimate (data analytics for renewable energy). At Dana Inc. (NYSE: DAN), Eric worked closely with the CEO and executive team to define and drive key strategic innovation initiatives. Since 2016, Eric has led a management and advisory firm, Global Capital Group (“GCX”), based in Germany that partners with global clients to “pivot, repurpose, innovate and transform” their businesses. Passionate about innovation, people development and social responsibility, Eric is a frequent speaker and university lecturer (professor), and a US Air Force AFWerx and Techstars Mentor, as a well as a member of the Boston Committee on Foreign Relations. He is a Founding Member of Meggitt PLC’s Technology Advisory Board (LSE: MGGT), Expert Advisor to the European Commission, and Senior Advisor at McKinsey, amongst other roles.
Executive Chairman and CEO of VivoPower, Kevin Chin commented, “I am honoured to welcome Eric to the VivoPower Advisory Council. I have been keen to collaborate with Eric for some time, having learned about his feats, notably the hyper-transformation of Costa Coffee into a high-growth, technology-enabled global franchise, which contributed significantly to its $5.1bn acquisition by Coca Cola. Given his very uncommon skills and experience that span design, engineering, technology, business and finance, I am convinced that Eric will be able to guide us as we execute on our strategic pivot to commercial electric vehicles and sustainable energy solutions. His prior mobility sector experience will be highly relevant in this regard, as will his extensive rolodex globally. We will be announcing the recruitment of other high-calibre Advisory Council members over the coming weeks that are similarly well qualified to assist VivoPower in its transformation.”
VivoPower Advisory Council member, Eric Achtmann commented, “Given my passion for innovation, people development and social responsibility, I am very proud to join this remarkable team and mission. Having reviewed VivoPower’s strategy, I look forward to working closely with Kevin and his team to support VivoPower as it executes on its battery electric vehicles and sustainable energy solutions strategy.”
About VivoPower
VivoPower is an international solar and critical power services business, providing critical energy infrastructure generation and distribution solutions to a diverse range of commercial and industrial customers, including the development, construction, and sale of photovoltaic solar projects.
Forward-Looking Statements
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