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The Mast Park habitat restoration project. HELIX is restoring 12.7 acres of wetland and riparian habitat in the San Diego River. / HELIX
A worthwhile self-appraisal HELIX CEO Michael Schwerin headed into the New Year with double-digit profits and a strong book-to-bill ratio.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
services in Southern California,” he says. “Short- ly after my arrival, HELIX started a wholly-owned subsidiary that installs and maintains native habi- tat. We’ve also added cultural resources (archaeol- ogy), air quality, greenhouse gas/climate change, and noise impact technical expertise over the years – organically and through acquisition.” HELIX has also evolved from a first-generation firm – with a founder who still owned a vast majority of the stock and served as CEO – to a second-genera- tion firm. Its ESOP now owns half of the company stock, and the remaining shares are owned by 17 key employees, none of whom owns more than 12 percent of the total. A CONVERSATION WITH SCHWERIN. The Zweig Letter: What are your key strengths? Michael Schwerin: Self-appraisal is tough. I think my ability to communicate with all levels of See Q&A, page 4
I n 2001, Michael Schwerin started as an assistant environmental planning group manager with HELIX (#4 Best Firm Environmental for 2016) a 120-person firm based in La Mesa, California. Over time, his management responsibilities in- creased, and he went from assistant group manag- er to group manager to vice president. In 2008, the firm’s founder and first generation CEO retired. By that point, an internal ownership transition via an employee stock ownership plan was in place and he was selected from a final pool of internal and exter- nal CEO candidates. With plenty of years of leadership under his belt, Schwerin reflects on how the firm has grown since 2001, both geographically and in terms of service diversification. “When I joined the firm, we primarily provid- ed environmental impact assessment and biology
Michael Schwerin, CEO, HELIX
THE ZWEIG LETTER February 6, 2017, ISSUE 1186
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