Marcel Pawlicek

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

\n(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer and pilot, 1900–1944)\n\nHaving grown up in the Winterthur region, I began my journey by studying mechanical engineering at the HTL Winterthur. This was the first step in a career that later led me to Fordham University in New York for an MBA in Marketing and International Business. This combination of technical depth and entrepreneurial thinking continues to shape my professional path today.\n\nMy career began in 1986 as a design engineer at Sulzer-Burckhardt in Winterthur. Three years later, the opportunity arose to go to the USA. For around ten years, I managed the international business with Burckhardt compressors from there as a project manager and as marketing and sales manager. My time in the United States taught me how differently business cultures function, how important direct communication is, and how sustainable Swiss quality remains even in a demanding international environment.\n\nIn 1999, I returned to Switzerland and initially took over responsibility for sales and contract management in the HPI division of Sulzer-Burckhardt. In the following years, I gradually grew into the operational management of Burckhardt Compression: first as Head of Customer Service & Solutions, later as Head of Design and Production. In 2011, I became CEO of the Burckhardt Compression Group. For eleven years, I had the privilege of leading the company through a turbulent economic environment, opening up international markets, helping to shape technological changes, and influencing an organization that today sets global standards in compressor technology.\n\nSince transitioning to Board and Advisory Board activities, I have been contributing my experience and knowledge to a wide variety of companies. These include established Swiss industrial companies such as Koras AG (Blaser Swisslube), ELEX AG, and FIR Group, international mandates at August Storm in Germany and the ECI Group in the USA, as well as supporting younger, technology-driven companies such as Haelok or the EuroTube Foundation. My involvement with Switzerland Global Enterprise and my work for the Joint Chamber of Commerce between Switzerland and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus are particularly close to my heart, as is my work at the Ausbildungszentrum Winterthur (AZW).\n\nFrom this variety of roles – engineer, sales manager, division head, CEO, Board Member, advisor – I know the perspectives of all stakeholders in a company. I know what pressure feels like in the top seat, what questions arise during strategic course-setting, and how valuable an experienced, independent sparring partner can be at decisive moments. It is precisely this perspective that I want to bring to Grass & Partner as Chairman of the Board: in the service of our clients and a team that has convinced me for several years with its attitude and way of working.\n\nI look forward to meeting you and thinking through the next right step together with you.