Ernesto Heinzelmann

Senior Advisor

Mr. Heinzelmann currently serves as a Senior Advisor and board member for several companies and is a partner at Strategus, a consulting firm. He is President of the Board of Directors of Sociesc, a university in Santa Catarina, and Managing Director of Savene Transporte Rodoviários.

Between 1993 and 2009, Mr. Heinzelmann was President and CEO of Embraco, where he led its transformation into a global leader in the compressor sector, with global market share of 20%. Before becoming CEO, Mr. Heinzelmann was responsible for technology development in this company, acting as R&D Director. He led the internationalization process of the company, founding industrial plants in Italy in 1994, China in 1995 and Slovakia in 1998. He also launched a sales unit in Mexico in 2004. In addition, as President of Embraco, in 1995 he established the first Brazilian industrial JV in China with local partner Snowflake Group, founding Embraco Snowflake Compressor Company (BESCO), to this day a reference for a successful JV. Through these efforts, Mr. Heinzelmann participated in various rounds of negotiations and industrial and government forums, garnering expertise in forging partnerships between Brazilian and Chinese companies.

Mr. Heinzelmann is one of the most recognized executives in Brazil. He received the title of Commander of the Order of Scientific Merit from the President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso. He also received the title of Merit of Industry from Industrial Federation of Santa Catarina (FIESC), and the Anita Garibaldi medal, the most prestigious award in Santa Catarina state, from Santa Catarina’s Governor, Luiz Henrique da Silveira. As professional recognition, he received the Medal of Merit jointly from CONFEA, the National Confederation of Engineering, Architecture and Agronomy, and from Santa Catarina’s Regional Confederation of Engineering Architecture and Agronomy (CREA-SC).

Mr. Heinzelmann is an Honorary Citizen of the city of Joinville and Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovakia for the South of Brazil.