Ron Daugherty

President & CEO
Daugherty Business Solutions

Location: St. Louis, MO
Founded: 1985
Industry: Advisory Services and Technology Consulting

“Telling intriguing, interesting stories as a way to illustrate a philosophy or principle is a great way to teach and motivate,” Ron Daugherty says.

Daugherty is president and CEO of Daugherty Business Solutions, an advisory services and technology consulting partner. “The more successful we are, the more significant we can be for our clients, consultants, and our communities,” he said.

Moving to St. Louis in his early 20s to take a job as a high school math teacher, he transitioned to a small software company that developed automated library systems, eventually working for Monsanto (now Bayer), McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), and Emerson Electric. It was during these early days of his career that Daugherty observed the gap between technologists and business leaders. He knew there was a better way and he proved it.

In 1985, Daugherty’s inception, the company had about a dozen employees. Today, it has 2,000 employees, offices in seven U.S. regions and two international locations, and works with about 75 of the Fortune 500 companies.

“There are some very exciting things happening at Daugherty right now,” Daugherty said. “This year we have become an international company, opening our first international offices in Poland and Central America. This global expansion will allow us to deliver more value to our U.S. clients, create more opportunity for our international teammates as well as our US teammates, and position us to start taking our value proposition to other clients outside the US.”

One of the Daugherty initiatives he is most excited about is Access Point. He explained that the Access Point program recognizes that talent is equally distributed, while access to opportunity is not.

“One of the differences between Access Point and other great programs is that it starts with real jobs that are available to participants as soon as they acquire specific capabilities,” Daugherty said.

He is equally as enthusiastic about Daugherty University, explaining that this has been a hugely successful way to continue to develop talent in a market where demand often exceeds supply.

“Daugherty is creating new capability by training talented people who have the skills and aptitude to be great consultants but might not have the experience or technology background,” Daugherty said.

Daugherty has been the recipient of several awards and has been featured in many publications, programs, podcasts and speaking engagements on technology and entrepreneurship. This year, Ron was recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and has led the Daugherty enterprise to win several national awards including: The National Association for Business Resources (NABR) Best & Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation; NABR’s Best & Brightest in Wellness; American Heart Association’s Workplace Health Achievement Award, and Consulting Magazine’s Fastest Growing Firms. Daugherty said that of all his accomplishments,he is most proud of his team.

“At Daugherty we rely so much on collaboration and teamwork. It’s part of our everyday culture. We depend on and support each other,” Daugherty said. “I’m very proud of my Daugherty teammates on every level. Together, we’re changing the world.”