Success Stories

Drive Oregon Celebrates Pivotal Leader Recognition

May 27th, 2010

Pivotal Leaders, a network of the top prospective clean technology business leaders in the Northwest, has recognized three of Oregon’s Electric Vehicle Industry Leaders as a 2010 Pivotal Leaders. After a community nomination process that resulted in more than 600 nominees, the final list of 32 Pivotal Leaders for 2010 were selected by their peers as individuals who are most likely to lead a successful clean technology company in the Northwest in the next three to five years.  Three Drive Oregon members were named as Pivotal Leaders. 

Continuing the momentum in Oregon’s clean transportation leadership, three of the industry’s entrepreneurs have been selected as Pivotal Leaders for 2010.  A selection of 32 top prospective clean-technology business leaders were chosen from among 600 candidates.  Among those selected, Oregon’s electric vehicle and infrastructure industry was one of the most heavily represented.  Winners from the group include Mark Frohnmayer of Arcimoto, Jeff Kim of Shorepower Technologies, and Tim Miller of Green Lite Motors. 

Frohnmayer, Miller and Kim are all members of Drive Oregon, which includes makers of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, vehicle components, electric vehicle infrastructure providers, and other groups.

Pivotal Leaders is a community-nominated and peer-selected network of the top prospective clean technology business leaders with ties to the Northwest. Founded by Pivotal Investments, along with presenting sponsors Perkins Coie, Ernst & Young, the Portland Development Commission and the University of Oregon, the Pivotal Leaders Network launched in February and received more than 600 nominations in its inaugural year. From that list, the three Drive Oregon leaders and 29 others were selected by their peers as entrepreneurial business leaders who have the knowledge, talent and business acumen to lead successful clean technology companies in the Northwest over the next three to five years.

“The caliber of people who were selected for this inaugural list of Pivotal Leaders is truly outstanding,” said Gregg Semler, Managing Director of Pivotal Investments. “It demonstrates to the business and investment communities that the entrepreneurial leadership exists in the Northwest to build a future economy based on our strengths of innovation and smart use of resources.  These are the people who will lead the development of a sustainable economy based on clean technology in the Northwest.”

In addition to the selection of Frohnmayer, Kim and Miller, fourteen other Drive Oregon members were nominated through the Pivotal Leaders process, showing the depth and breadth of Oregon’s emerging vehicle electrification industry:

• Bob Acheson, Barefoot Motors
• Brad Baker, Baker Motorcycle Co.
• Chris Bakken, Rogue Energy
• George Beard, Portland State University
• David Boyd, Synkromotive
• Craig Bramscher, Brammo
• Melissa Brandao, Ambiente Motors
• Mark Frohnmayer, Arcimoto
• Nathan Isaacs, Optimization Technologies
• Jeff Kim, Shorepower Technologies
• Michael Miles, KersTech
• Tim Miller, Green Lite Motors Corporation
• Doug Morris, EnerSol, Inc
• Erik Stafl, Arcimoto LLC
• Tinny Srinivasan, Tinitron, Inc.
• John Thornton, CleanFuture
• Dexter Turner, Optimization Technologies

To learn more about the Pivotal Leaders Network and view the list of Pivotal Leaders for 2010, visit: http://www.pivotal-leaders.com/.

About Drive Oregon

Drive Oregon is a coalition of Oregon companies and interest groups engaged in the electric vehicle industry and issues surrounding transportation electrification. Drive Oregon’s mission is to catalyze the growth of Oregon’s electric vehicle industry, to ensure Oregon develops and maintains its competitive advantage and to maximize the economic development potential of the emerging EV industry.  Learn more about Drive Oregon at http://DriveOregon.org.

 About Pivotal Leaders

Pivotal Leaders is a business network created by the venture capital firm Pivotal Investments, with presenting sponsors Perkins Coie, Ernst & Young, the Portland Development Commission and the University of Oregon and contributing sponsors AterWynne, Iberdrola Renewables, Nike, NW Natural, Portland State University, Stoel Rives, UK Trade & Investment and Weyerhaeuser. Pivotal Leaders was founded to identify and recognize the top prospective business leaders in the Northwest and to support them in furthering the region’s leadership potential in the clean technology sector. The idea for Pivotal Leaders emerged as the founders of Pivotal Investments discovered a need not only for investment capital focused on the sustainable economy, but also human capital. Both needs were clearly documented in the Carbon Free Prosperity Report authored by Climate Solutions and Clean Edge. Find out more about this exciting network at www.pivotal-leaders.com.