Michael-Bruno LLC - Wilmington, DE
Maybe it was the thrill of experiencing duty assignments in stations in Europe and Egypt while serving in the Navy from 1973-1977 that first urged Michael Sedge to keep exploring new places. Maybe not, but one thing is pervasively evident in the life of Michael Sedge – success.
Sedge has lived and worked in Europe for 30 years now, during which time he has established and operated several businesses, including Michael-Bruno, LLC and The Sedge Group, a global PR-marketing-editorial agency. He has authored 20 books, including “Commercialization of the Oceans”, “Marketing Strategies for Writers”, and most recently “The Lost Ships of Pisa”, which captured the President of the Italian Republic’s “Book of the Year Award for a Foreign Author.”
It started in 2003 when Sedge established Michael-Bruno, LLC to work on U.S. government construction projects in Europe. The first year turned revenues of more than $600,000. In 2007, Michael-Bruno turned more than $1.6 million dollars in revenue!
Based in Wilmington, Del. and featuring field offices in Naples, Italy, and Djibouti, Africa, Michael Sedge is “half” of the corporation he partnered with Giuseppe Bruno, the firm’s executive vice president. Michael-Bruno provides a full-range of architectural, engineering, construction, and project management services.
“I have approached Michael-Bruno as a game of chess,” Sedge said, “with live players. When I began the company, I had a game plan. I called it the 5-5-5 Plan. That is, invest $5,000 and in five years, transform that into $5 million. Our fifth year of business is 2008, and we are on track to achieve this goal.”
The origins of his entry into business, as are many aspects of Sedge’s life, is the stuff that makes legends.
“It was on a bet. I had worked as a project manager for a U.S. telecommunications company that had won a global defense contract. Part of my job was to hire an engineering and design firm, as well as construction company,” Sedge said.
“Over the course of the project, I got to know the owner of the engineering firm. One day I said, ‘I will bet that if you put up $2,500 and I match it, we could open a U.S. small business and make a million dollars.’ He did so, and three months later the company was working in California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Japan, Italy, and Germany. We have
now taken that ‘make a million dollars’ goal to making five million dollars in a single year.”
And given the broad and diverse spectrum of Sedge’s interests, experience, business acumen and insights, Michael-Bruno is well on its way.
“In the past year we have, for example, worked in Italy, Germany, Djibouti, and Ethiopia, and currently are pursuing projects in Greece, Kenya, and Ghana as well,” said Sedge. “Our primary relationship with corporate work is partnerships with companies like Arrowhead Global Solutions, Lockheed Martin, SKE International, and USfalcon, whereby we collaborate in going after government work.”
With enough belief in himself, Sedge has and continues to live a life many might only dream. His dream?
“My dream car would have to call into the BMW line,” Sedge pronounced, “but what I drive is a 4-year-old, Hyundai Santa Fe.”
Written by Jack Gordon