Barry-Wehmiller was founded in 1885 by Thomas J. Barry and his brother-in-law Alfred Wehmiller in St. Louis, MO to provide conveying and transportation equipment to malt houses. Bob Chapman’s father, Bill Chapman, joined Barry-Wehmiller and quickly proved himself as a competent business leader, becoming president in 1953.

Bob Chapman later joined his father in the business. Soon after, Bill Chapman suffered a tragic and sudden heart attack, leaving Bob Chapman as a young CEO and chairman of a failing business. Faced with limited options, he began to acquire companies to turn around. Barry-Wehmiller is now comprised of 110+ acquisitions worldwide with team members working in manufacturing, engineering and IT consulting, and professional services. Understanding that the number one way we touch the lives of people is through a sustainable business model, Barry-Wehmiller’s compound revenue growth rate has been 14.9% since 1987.

While business success was evident, Bob Chapman embraced the realization that with team members who spend over a third of their week at work, he had an enormous responsibility as a leader to impact their lives. Thus began the implementation of Truly Human Leadership within Barry-Wehmiller which includes a holistic approach to continuous improvement, an internal university devoted to leadership development, and recognition and celebration programs across the organization. The result of these efforts is a thriving culture that exists in harmony with a thriving business.

Partnering with organizations to deliver customized training and events, assessments, and consulting services, we launched Chapman & Co. to build on and transfer the learnings of our parent company, Barry-Wehmiller, to yours. With head offices in St. Louis and Cape Town, we work with public and private companies, for-profit and nonprofit, large and small, around the world.