PHOTO: NASDAQ Opening Bell April 22, 2009 (Earth Day)
ERIK G. BIRKERTS
Erik is a partner with Evergreen Growth Advisors . His work centers on the design, implementation and/or repositioning of go-to-market strategies. In particular, he specializes in leveraging indirect sales channels and partnerships to achieve cost effective market coverage and profitable revenue growth.
Erik has 20 years of general, financial and sales management experience centered on growing entrepreneurial companies. He has been on the management teams for two IPOs of venture capital backed companies and has helped raise/structure numerous private equity financings during his career.
Erik most recently served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Orion Energy Systems (NASDAQ: OESX), a leading manufacturer of energy efficient, high-performance lighting systems and renewable technologies. Orion more than doubled its revenues and became publicly traded during Erik's tenure. He had responsibility for a range of key management areas, including strategic planning, budgeting, and financial forecasting. Erik also served as the primary liaison with "sell-side" investment analysts and "buy-side" investors, presenting company strategy and business results during investor road shows, conferences, earnings calls and other public forums. Erik was originally recruited to Orion after successfully consulting with the company on the design of its indirect sales channel strategy, which now contributes nearly 50% of Orion's revenues.
Prior to Orion, Erik had a successful consulting career as President of The Prairie Partners Group, a boutique consulting firm he co-founded. Working with clients as diverse as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, DeVry University and numerous private equity and venture capital funded companies, Erik developed strategies to capitalize on growth opportunities for clients. Erik began his career as a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Erik earned his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his BA with honors in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University.
Contact Information
Erik G. Birkerts
Partner
Evergreen Growth Advisors LLC
office: 866.549.3191 ext. 700
mobile: 224.554.9137
ebirkerts@evergreengrowthadvisors.com
www.evergreengrowthadvisors.com
