Growing Fast: An ECLP in Brazil

The ECLP program is considered a “new” program by GE standards, since it was founded in 2002 while some of GE’s other leadership programs have been around for decades. If ECLPs are “new” to GE, then ECLPs working in GE’s Brazilian businesses are even newer. GE has placed ECLPs in Brazil since 2007. We now proudly boast ECLP Brazil alumni in top management positions in four different businesses.

As our country was less impacted by the financial crisis and quickly able to recover during the global slow down, GE Brazil’s hiring pace did not diminish. Our current ECLPs (classes of 2011 and 2012) are in great shape: We are all working on projects in key growth industries for GE and for Brazil, such as Aviation, Oil & Gas, Water, Energy and Healthcare.

In my current rotation, I am building GE’s go-to-market strategy in the sugar and ethanol market. Over the past 10 years, this industry has been growing at a double-digit rate in Brazil. I am charged with exploring the opportunities this massive growth presents and providing recommendations on how GE can lead in this industry.

From a business perspective, sugarcane production and usage in Brazil has evolved dramatically. Brazil began cultivating sugarcane in the 16th century, while under Portuguese rule.¹ During the 20^th century, sugarcane became not just a food commodity, but also a fuel commodity. In 1970, the government launched the PROALCOOL initiative, which made Brazil the first country in the world to use ethanol as a transportation fuel. The PROALCOOL program aimed to phase out fossil-fuel usage in automobiles by mandating that ethanol fuel be blended with traditional gasoline. In the late 1990’s, technology advances allowed flex-fuel vehicles, which could run effectively on any blend of gasoline and ethanol, to take off. By 2005, ethanol usage wasn’t just limited to the automobile industry. Mills stared to use the residual core from the sugar cane as available biomass to generate power. Later came biopolymers, feed ingredients and countless other products, all derived from sugarcane, a distant relative to garden grass.

Surprisingly, for all the product possibilities of this plant, Brazil currently utilizes less than 2% of its agricultural land to produce sugarcane. More than 80% of this land is located in the Center-South of Brazil, thousands of kilometers away from the rainforests, meaning that production could be expanded substantially without impacting valuable environmental land. There is such potential for growth in this industry, but obviously there are also still challenges including foreign investment, pressure from global markets, and the ability to improve efficiency in current mills while still maintaining alignment to new international standards.

The potential and challenges of this industry also present a great opportunity for me to grow. There is high interest in sugar and ethanol across several businesses within GE – Brazil making my rotation very relevant. As a result, I have experienced a high level of exposure to a number of GE executives. For my mid-term report, I had the chance to present my project to several global leaders and will have the opportunity to present to them again for my final report in late October. Even though I will move on to my final rotation in November, I may be fortunate enough to see some of my recommendations implemented before I’m gone.

Career development opportunities in Brazil are vast. Our country is growing so rapidly that nearly every industry, from Mining, Oil & Gas and Aviation to Consumer Goods and Healthcare, is experiencing the same pace of growth as Sugar & Ethanol. The combination of this growth and the capabilities of a company as large and diverse as GE make being an ECLP in Brazil a pretty unique experience.

Posted by Luis