Neil Peters-Michaud
High-Tech Recycling
Neil Peters-Michaud BS'93, MBA'99
Our Ten Questions
- 1. What is your favorite flavor of Babcock ice cream?
Cookie Dough - 2. What do you most miss about campus?
The morning walk on Lakeshore Path and spending countless hours at the Rat or Terrace talking with friends about how to solve the world's problems - 3. What is your favorite mode of transportation?
Sailboat - 4. What items would you take to a desert island?
My family, my Blackberry (with a great satellite connection), and my iPod - 5. What was your first job?
Selling necklaces made from seashells I combed from the Maryland shore (age 5) - 6. Who is your hero?
My wife, Jessica. She has strong moral grounding and conviction. She loves her family dearly and goes the distance to take care of us. She's smarter than she ever lets on and knows how to have a good time. - 7. What are you reading now?
Jared Diamond's, "Guns, Germs and Steel," providing a case for cultural, environmental and chance circumstances influence on the development of civilizations. "No Man's Land," a business book about the challenges of taking a maturing start-up company to the big time. "How to program your universal remote control," one of the more challenging manuals I've ever encountered. - 8. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Always maintain your integrity. - 9. What's on your iPod?
Pretty much everything but country and classical – Camper Van Beethoven, English Beat, Allman Brothers, Coldplay, Indigo Girls, XTC, Steely Dan, Wynton Marsalis, Billie Holiday. Also, weekly podcasts of "Sound Opinions," produced by a good friend and fellow Badger. - 10. What is your proudest UW achievement?
Getting all of the University Residence Halls to begin accepting and distributing reusable coffee mugs (there was quite a bit of resistance at the time.)
Profile
Neil Peters-Michaud BS'93, MBA'99
UW Majors: Philosophy and Master's in Business Administration
Profession: CEO of Cascade Asset Management
Neil Peters-Michaud has long been an advocate for the environment.
His efforts in environmental sustainability began long before his current career as founder and CEO of Cascade Asset Management, a company designed to aid in the responsible retirement and recycling of surplus IT equipment. As an undergraduate, Peters-Michaud led various environmental efforts on the UW campus, among them a plan to have University Residence Halls begin accepting and distributing reusable coffee mugs.
Following his graduation in 1993, Peters-Michaud looked to build on the efforts he began as a UW student with the National Wildlife Federation, traveling throughout the Midwest and working with college campuses to adopt similar environmental programs he had begun at the UW.
Peters-Michaud eventually returned to Wisconsin, where his focus turned to the growing problem of computer waste ending up in landfills and the subsequent impact on the environment. He turned to the School of Business' Weinert Program for Entrepreneurship, where he was allowed one year during his MBA program to research the market and build a business plan. Not long after, Cascade Asset Management was off and running.
Nearly nine years since its founding, Cascade Asset Management now employs more than 100 people at facilities in two states and has diverted more than 34 million pounds of electronic waste from landfills. The computer recycling industry shows no signs of slowing down either, and in just the last three years, Peters-Michaud's company has seen more than 300 percent growth.
Commenting on a unique combination of liberal arts and business degrees, and also the challenges of balancing work, school and family, Peters-Michaud credits his UW experience with helping provide a solid foundation to achieve what he has today. "My UW experience provided me the confidence to lead," he says, "but also the humility that I always have more to learn."
Neil's Essay
I enjoyed both undergraduate (BS Philosophy and Environmental Studies Certificate, '93) and graduate (MBA - Entrepreneurship '99) studies at the UW. The combination of liberal arts and business studies, with a wide involvement in community life at UW, helped build on the foundation that brought me to Wisconsin; to use the privilege of my education to improve the lives of others.
Part of the UW experience is about survival. Juggling several jobs with extracurriculars, a family and a full course load makes any challenge I now face seem manageable. My classes taught me how to be inquisitive and caring; combining rational thought with compassion. The UW experience provided me the confidence to lead, but the humility to recognize I always have more to learn.
During the period between undergraduate and graduate studies, I pursued environmental sustainability efforts through various positions. First, as an organizer for the National Wildlife Federation working with over 50 college campuses throughout the Midwest to adopt environmental programs modeled after the pioneering efforts we initiated at the UW (e.g., recycling programs in the residence halls, reusable mug program throughout the university, green procurement, energy conservation and more) through the various groups I led and joined. I returned to the state to expand resource recovery efforts of the UW and state through the establishment of the SWAP Shop.
Looking to build a new market to turn a waste (the growing piles of old computer equipment) into a resource, I turned to the entrepreneurship program at the UW Business School. The Weinert Program allowed me to dedicate a year to researching the market and building a business plan with help from professors, business leaders on the WAVE Board, and other students. I even received seed funding from the WAVE Investment Fund to help make this vision a reality. As a result, Cascade Asset Management was launched in 1999 with my wife Jessica. Our company was designed to combine my environmental background of resource conservation with the elements of profitable business practices in order to assist corporations with the responsible retirement of their surplus information technology assets.
Over the past eight years leading this business, I've been privileged to work with so many talented and dedicated individuals. We have diverted more than 34 million pounds of electronic waste from landfills. The company recently was named to Inc. Magazine's list of fastest growing businesses in the U.S. with more than 300 percent growth over the last three years. We have also received numerous awards over the year and are recognized as a leader in the industry.
Now, more than 100 people work at Cascade and we run facilities in two states, with many more to come. Besides the gracious comments from our customers who tout our people and processes as best in the industry (a wonderful testimonial was shared with me by Hallmark company of Kansas City), I am most honored by the comments I receive from staff. Just yesterday, our HR manager shared with the management team how Cascade has been her best place to work and rained accolades on all the managers for their contributions to our quality of life. I believe it's because we are driven by a sense of worthwhile purpose (to make an important impact on business challenges and to improve the environment), as well as by a spirit of empowerment and personal development of team members that yields such praise from our staff.
Most recently, I was honored by being chosen by the leading international environmental organization working on the global trade of IT equipment to help build a computer recycling operation in Africa. This World Bank funded project has afforded me the opportunity to visit the continent and work with government and private sector leaders to ensure a responsible IT recycling capacity is installed in the country to deal with the influx of junk computers into the continent. I am learning so much in my travels and the experience is enriching and motivating me to accelerate efforts to build sustainable businesses that enrich African entrepreneurs and the continent's economy and environment.
Through it all, I have also been fortunate to have a wonderful and supportive family in my wife Jessica (UW BS'94), son Eagan (age 6), and daughter Sophia (age 4). It is important to me to be an active and present husband and father while actively engaged in work.
I am honored to have been nominated for this recognition by Phil Greenwood. Phil was instrumental in my MBA studies and introducing me to opportunities to launch our business. I am proud to be a Badger and to represent the school well through all my work, community involvement and family life.