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Web Profile: Michael Soenen

Michael Soenen (ND '89) is an architect of cutting edge companies and fantastic places to work. "I recruit motivated, ethical employees with great attitudes," says Soenen. "The key to my success is an extremely talented team and a culture where they are jacked sky high to come to work in the morning."

Soenen is president and CEO of Consolidated Commerce, the second supply chain management firm he has co-founded since 1993. With clients like Catepillar, Mack Truck and Land O' Lakes, Soenen says his biggest career accomplishment was recognizing supply chain operations over the web was the opportunity in B2B electronic commerce.

Prior to founding Consolidated Commerce, Soenen co-founded Waterstone Consulting, a supply-chain management and e-commerce consulting and systems integration firm. Focusing on Fortune 1,000 and upper mid-market companies, it didn't take long for Soenen's business ideologies to produce noteworthy performance results. With an average revenue growth of 100%, Waterstone was named one of the "Top 150 companies to work for" in a survey of college seniors at major universities including Purdue, University of Illinois and Northwestern University.

In 1998, Waterstone was spun into the Chicago based firm of Consolidated Commerce. Specializing in Internet resident supply chain operations software, Consolidated Commerce saves companies up to 25% in supply chain operations by exposing gaps and finding ways to make a company's supply chain more efficient.

How did Soenen gain the business savvy to start two successful companies, the second, which will soon be taken to IPO? "Into every business I start," says Soenen, "I take an honest and ethical approach clients appreciate. These core values are instilled in students at Notre Dame and, I think, the earmark of the University."

When not entertaining new business ventures, Soenen is a regular guest speaker at Mendoza College of Business MBA and undergraduate classes. "I received a well rounded education at Notre Dame," says Soenen "that was one of the key factors that helped me become a success in my business ventures. Passing on career advice and entrepreneurial skills is important to me because they are key to building any company that is here to last."