It's not unusual for an in-house legal counsel to transition to corporate development. What is a bit unexpected is for the change to take place after nearly two decades. That was the case for Aqua America Inc.'s Mark Kropilak who after 17 years working on the company's legal team, earned an M.B.A. from Villanova University in 2002. He became vice president of corporate development later that year and in February was promoted to senior vice president. He also serves as the company's corporate counsel.
The Pennsylvania native, who earned his law degree from Columbia University, joined Aqua America after a stint at Philadelphia law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where he practiced public utility, environmental and administrative law.
The combination of skills needed to succeed in corporate development--finance, law, marketing, communications--can overwhelm newcomers to the field, says Kropilak, who in his 22 years with Aqua America has worked on hundreds of deals. Beyond valuing and structuring deals, he says, "there's the whole psychology of working with the other party."
That is why at Aqua, which is aggressively buying up municipal water systems, a sense for the politics in each locale is also highly valued. To that end, the company has eight to 10 corporate development people covering the 13 states in which it operates, plus three to four additional staff at its headquarters in Bryn Mawr, Pa. "It's a lean department," he says, "but we form teams as deals arise, tapping local experts to work on them." -- Christine Idzelis
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