Alumnus returns to classroom to share insights related to aluminum industry, strategy, entrepreneurship

Alumnus returns to classroom to share insights related to aluminum industry, strategy, entrepreneurship

Northwest Missouri State University students walking into Thursday's entrepreneurship and business strategy classes in Colden Hall probably didn't expect a demonstration involving Play-Doh, but that's how alumnus Brian Hesse helped them understand the process he oversees of making aluminum billets.

For all of his business success, the portrayal also helped Hesse illustrate another point - that he's a common, simple guy who was far from a high-achieving undergraduate student at Northwest. He promptly shared with students that he earned a sub-2.0 grade-point average during his first semester at the University but - after a scolding from his father - graduated in 1995 with a 3.0 GPA and a bachelor's degree in marketing.

"I want kids to understand that I was just the most common, average student, and I want kids to realize that you don't have to be anyone special," Hesse said. "You don't have to be a 4.0 kid, and you can still have a successful life. And Northwest gave that to me."

A native of Mexico, Missouri, Hesse was active at Northwest as an assistant hall director, residential assistant and student ambassador, in addition to being a member of the American Marketing Association. After graduating, he took a sales role with steel company Ryerson Inc.

Now, with 30 years of work in the steel and aluminum industries, Hesse is the founder and chief executive officer of Perennial, an aluminum distributor in New York worth around half of a billion dollars. The aluminum billets his company delivers - as demonstrated through the wonder of Play-Doh - are manufactured as logs measuring about 6 to 20 inches in diameter and then shaped into parts for everyday products such as cars, smartphones, laptops and light fixtures.

And he is securing investments to launch a second aluminum company, Adaptiq, with plans to build a manufacturing facility in Ohio that would be the lowest carbon emissions aluminum facility in America.

With Northwest students on Thursday, Hesse offered insights into the strategies he employs - and the risks he faces - in developing his businesses.

"The cool thing is that I'm actually doing right now what you guys are learning about," Hesse told students.

He added, "Spot an opportunity, check it out, go for it. It doesn't have to be sexy. Aluminum is not sexy. Building apps, working for Google, working for AI companies, that's all what I call 'sexy.' However, aluminum has been around for hundreds of years. It's going to be around for a hundred more years."

Hesse has shared his experiences with Northwest students regularly in recent years. Additionally, last year, he completed a three-year term as a member of the Northwest Foundation Board of Directors. He and his wife, Holly, established the Brian Hesse Scholarship for Business, the Hesse Family Scholarship for Vocal Music and the Russ Northup Marketing Scholarship.

"When we can have alumni come back and share their experience, it enriches what we as faculty share," Dr. Stephen Ludwig, the chair of Northwest's Melvin D. and Valorie G. Booth School of Business, said. "We don't always get the same level of enthusiasm that an external speaker will provide, and somebody that's as excited about doing what Brian's doing is fantastic."