Chapman became the senior executive of Barry-Wehmiller, a global supplier of capital equipment and consulting services across a broad range of industries, in 1975, when he was 30 years old. After Chapman served 50 years at the helm, his son, Kyle, succeeded him as CEO in 2025. While keeping a hand in the business, Chapman recently completed a revised edition of his 2015 book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family.
Keep up with local business news and trends
Subscribe to the St. Louis Business newsletter to get the latest insights sent to your inbox every morning.
2026 QUESTIONNAIRE
PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
What has been your/your company’s most significant success over the past 12 months? The completion and release of the revised and expanded version of my 2015 book, Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family.
What has you most excited about the future of your company or industry? Our unique business model was significantly influenced by our challenges in the 1980’s. I studied Chuck Knight of Emerson Electric who impressed on me the importance of balance in our business model design. In 1988, after we spun off two-thirds of what had been Barry-Wehmiller’s businesses on the London Stock exchange, we paused and reflected on what I had learned. I had stepped into a struggling old family business with many challenges, notably that it was dependent on the ups and downs of one industry. Our new business model—one that would have a good balance of markets, products, and technology—would take this historic business that was still private and about $20 million in revenue to $100 million in revenue with an intentional vision and some very specific acquisition targets. This business model has far exceeded our expectations. We’re now a $3.6 billion company with over 12 percent compound growth in our share value.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why? That the leaders in any business and any industry would realize that leadership is a privilege. Leaders need to embrace the profound responsibility for the lives entrusted to them. The way we lead impacts the way people live.
What’s the toughest business challenge you’ve had to overcome? Transforming a historic business with old technology that was dependent on one industry.
What’s a risk you took in business that didn’t pan out—but taught you something valuable? Shortly after my father died in 1975 and I had been in the company for six years, I took the risk of growing our business with a combination of dramatic ideas that took us from $20 million to $70 million in three or four years. It was exceptionally exciting, and I had strong support from by banks to fund the growth, but while the growth ideas were compelling, in hindsight, I realize that the organization had never really experienced organic growth. We didn’t have the skills to capture the value of each of these initiatives and it resulted in a dramatic pull of our line of credit in 1983 that created a massive daily financial crisis within the business. I didn’t have the wisdom to understand cumulative risk. But I learned more when we lived day to day on cash from October 1983 to August 1984. That was key to my creating a whole new vision for the company. I say that from my greatest challenges have come my greatest learnings that have shaped my leadership skills.
What advice would you give to the next generation of St. Louis entrepreneurs or leaders? One of the things we’ve tried to prove at Barry-Wehmiller is that in business, you don’t have to sacrifice economic value creation in order to care for those you have the privilege to lead. It’s not a one or the other proposition. We call it people and performance in harmony. Think of your business model as an engine and the culture as your premium fuel. A good business model is the foundation for caring for your people and your culture is the fuel that activates that engine and produces the power of the design. Everyone wants to know that who they are and what they do matters. So, when you truly care about your people, you not only need to give them an environment where they feel like they matter—where their gifts and talents can thrive—you also have to make sure their livelihoods are safe and secure with a well-designed business model. It’s not just enough to be a successful business that creates value for your shareholders, or to be a great place to work. We believe we need to succeed for our people, who put their trust in us. Everyone should be part of a winning team, all stakeholders should gain from their association with us. This means team members, their families, shareholders, customers, and the communities in which we are based.
MENTORS & PEERS
What is a key strength of the St. Louis metro area business environment? We were historically very fortunate to have one of the most successful breweries and our oldest customer relationship to give us the foundation in St. Louis to serve the brewing industry. St. Louis has a great strategic location and great midwestern values, and we were able to develop talent in this environment.
What is one thing you would change about the St. Louis metro area business environment? We really need more involvement from business in shaping the future of our community. In my early days, there seemed to be more strong business executives willing to step up to help shape the future. Unfortunately, we have lost many of the major companies that provided this commitment to our community. This partnership of our political and business leaders is exceptionally important.
Who is the most interesting under-the-radar/emerging business leader in St. Louis? John Kemper of Commerce Bank has a family legacy of civic service. I am impressed with John and others in his age group leading major organizations that could give us some fresh ways to partner to create caring communities that attract talent to our area.
Who in your company (or industry) deserves more recognition for their impact? I often say that won’t go to the grave proud of the machinery we build. I’ll go to my grave proud of the people who built that machinery. At Barry-Wehmiller, our people are our purpose. The people within an organization deserve to be recognized and celebrated for the goodness of who they are, but also the impact they have in your company.
What’s a local organization, nonprofit, or initiative that more people should know about—and why? The Chapman Foundation for Caring Communities is our way to bring, to communities around the country, human skills in harmony with academic skills. We want to give communities the tools of empathetic listening, to teach people how to listen, just as we do within Barry-Wehmiller. We’re also working to transform education by partnering with universities and primary and secondary schools to create tomorrow’s leaders who have the skills and courage to care for those they have the privilege to lead. We want to elevate the purpose of education to create citizens of the world with the skills to care for others and heal the poverty of dignity in our world.
BACKGROUND
Where were you born? Ferguson
What educational degrees do you hold, and where were they earned? I graduated from McCluer High School in north St. Louis, went to Indiana University for a BA in accounting, and got an MBA from the University of Michigan.
What was your first job, and what did you learn from it? My first job was with Price Waterhouse in St. Louis. While I was only there two years before joining Barry-Wehmiller, the exposure I had to a variety of industries in St. Louis through audits gave me exceptional insights into a number of diverse industries and the challenges and strategies of each. I learned more in those two years than I did in my MBA program!
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
What’s your hobby/passion? Taking this healing message of Truly Human Leadership to the world to begin to heal the poverty of dignity we see all around us.
What is one book you think everyone should read (or podcast everyone should listen to) and why? Everybody Matters, the book I co-authored with Raj Sisodia to capture my journey. It contains my learnings on how to move from management to leadership to create organizations where people are our purpose, where economic and human value are created in harmony! I was never told in my business education or in my industry experience that the way I would lead Barry-Wehmiller would have a significant impact on the health and family life of those in our care. I thought it was really all about fair pay and benefits. After a series of revelations, I realized that the way we lead impact how those in our care live. Every leader needs to embrace the profound responsibility of leadership. We explore the ideas of Everybody Matters on our podcast, Truly Human Leadership.
What do you do when you’re feeling stuck or uninspired? I can’t remember ever feeling this way even in the worst of our challenges. I feel I am blessed with common sense, creativity and a positive attitude. This unique blend of personality traits explains the way we addressed our severe challenges in the 1970s and 1980s.
What would people be surprised to learn about you (fun fact)? I think my story and the story of Barry-Wehmiller is very surprising to people who haven’t heard it or read my book. We’re the subject of a Harvard case study that is being used to teach leaders around the world in more than 70 universities. I was pretty much an average student who attended St. Louis Public Schools that was blessed with a special vision of the way the world was intended to be where people care for each other. That business can be a powerful force for good if we only embrace caring for the lives entrusted to us. With my educational background in public schools with very average grades and not much passion for education, where we have come at Barry-Wehmiller and where we are going, driven by these revelations doesn’t make sense!
