Robert Bortner

Project Co-ordinator:
Greenstar South Africa
Greenstar Brasil

rbortner@greenstar.org

Bob Bortner is skilled in international business management strategy, technology access and utilization, with expertise in cross-cultural people skills and database design.

Working with Greenstar since late 2001, Bob has engaged multiple public and private-sector partners in a planning effort for Greenstar investments in South Africa and Brazil. He has helped to establish the business case for programs in the village of Kgautswane, Limpopo Province, and to identify how Greenstar will participate in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. He continues to advise the community on a variety of development efforts.

In Brazil Bob is currently managing a set of joint Greenstar, Sandia National Labs and USAID projects along the Rio Tapajós in the Amazon and attempting to develop a third project near Rio Branco in Acre state.  These projects will involve the construction of solar powered, internet enabled telecenters and then work closely with local partners and the community to integrate the technology into a wide variety of development efforts, including potentially the Greenstar Digital Culture Program.

Over the past couple of years, Bob has also assisted with the utilization of IT in a number of development efforts including Tarahaat in India, Fundação Pensamento Digital in Porto Alegre Brazil and Digital Partners in the US.

Previous business experience includes work as a Corporate Account Representative, Headquarters Sales, for Microsoft Corporation, running a virtual team based in Redmond, Washington responsible for developing customer satisfaction, identification of customer information technology needs, and contract negotiation.

Bob's team was responsible for managing and implementing a marketing program targeted at converting influential Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect users and their workgroups to MS Word and MS Excel, working closely with over 300 channel partners to build their business development skills, marketing and sales resources and to engage in corporate accounts.

He also served as Territory Manager for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses, Enterprise and Channel Sales, in the U.S. Great Lakes District, and was also responsible for Anti-Piracy efforts for the headquarters district.

Previously, Bob Bortner was an independent consultant in Washington, D.C. and Seattle, WA, who pursued market development and distribution opportunities for a variety of products, including computer software. He successfully developed a distribution network in Puerto Rico, and researched and co-authored studies involving satellite telecenters utilization in the Dominican Republic. He was also involved with the management of petrochemical project task force with Trinidad while working with the Puerto Rico Economic Development Administration as Industrial Promotions Officer. His primary responsibility for generating US, Far East and European investment in a five-nation Caribbean territory and managing relationship between the Puerto Rico Government and those countries. This earlier work also generated over $300 million investment in Trinidad and Barbados in a two year period.

Bob oversaw and managed all aspects of the participation by four Puerto Rican government agencies and 10 exhibitors in international trade shows in Trinidad. He also researched and implemented counter-trade exchange in Brazil for International Trade and Investments, Chicago, IL, which involved identifying target products, locating and negotiating with US buyers and Brazilian suppliers.

He worked closely with top management from pharmaceutical, chemical, electronics, metallurgy and other industries to promote investment sites and expedite relocation. Key investors included General Electric, Schering Plough, Mobil Oil, GTE, ICI, and Matsushita. Bob met regularly met with key government officials in the region, including the Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands and the former Secretary of State of Puerto Rico. These efforts resulted in more than 20 projects, together worth $500 million.

Bob Bortner holds a Masters of Arts degree in International Affairs, with emphasis in International Economics, Social Change and Development from Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C. and Bologna, Italy. He also earned BA in Chemistry with a minor in Business from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN and the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.