44. Chris Vernon

The Vernon Company (asi/351700)

2020 Rank: 47

Title: President/CEO

Industry Experience: 34 years

Chris and the entire Vernon family suffered a huge loss late last year with the death of family patriarch Bill at the age of 89. As part of a succession plan, the younger Vernon became CEO of the company back in 2014, with his father saying at the time “Chris has proven himself as an effective leader during good and tough business cycles.” Since then, Chris has maintained The Vernon Company’s status as a Top 40 distributor, ranking 29^th in revenue last year. Even more, Vernon’s concerted effort to boost employee morale and retention (through increased communication and greater visibility of company goals as well as fun policies such as casual dress and Popcorn Fridays) is paying rich dividends, as is his hire last year of Lisa Hubbard, the company’s VP of sales and marketing, who has brought new energy and enthusiasm to the company. Fellow Power 50 members noted increasing influence for Vernon in the past year.