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Sharing Insights Into The World Of Business: Meet Al Dauray

photo by Photo Provided Al Dauray has been a part of American business for over 50 years and loves to share stories, memories and insights!

Tuesday April 7, 2015

By Cookie Steponaitis

When President Calvin Coolidge delivered his now famous address to the Society of American Newspaper Editors on January 17, 1925 remarking, “After all, the chief business of the American people is business. They are profoundly concerned with producing, buying, selling, investing and prospering in the world. I am strongly of the opinion that the great majority of people will always find these the moving impulses of our life,” he might well have had the career of Al Dauray in mind.
   Dauray was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island in 1929 and with his brother grew up learning about the ethos and logistics of large and small business from their father who worked in distribution for General Electric. Al followed his father into the business world and his career took him from Rhode Island into the European and International Trade Markets. After completing his undergraduate studies at Harvard University in philosophy and graduate work at Columbia Business School in 1952, he followed the family tradition working a decade for General Electric. While based in New York City his consulting career required a lot of movement and travel and during his first year with General Electric as a part of their management program, he moved over eight times. Dauray moved to New York City in the late 1960’s joining the consulting firm of McKinsey & Company working worldwide with international companies as a consultant. Whether it was marketing, organization, launching new products or strategic moves involving investment or sales, Dauray worked with corporate CEO’s across America. As a member of a global management consulting firm, Dauray worked with clients including leading businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations and not-for profits. McKinsey & Company includes one hundred offices worldwide and employs a diversified staff with fluency in over one hundred twenty-seven languages helping each client to strengthen their performance and realize their goals. Dauray’s expertise involved areas of business such as strategy, operations, business technology and sustainability whether it was on the factory floor or in corporate offices.
Dauray and several major financial firms in New York purchased the company Ampeg in the 1970’s which made amplifiers present at some of the most iconic moments in rock music worldwide which he later sold to Magnavox.
   He went back into consulting at the helm of his own company, Dauray and Associates, based out of Atlanta, Georgia which focused on smaller businesses. Dauray finished his over fifty years in business at the control of his own firm, while teaching as an adjunct professor for Southern New Hampshire University. While his experiences reflect small businesses to multinational corporations, Dauray feels there are constants in the field that still hold true today. “If you are not a wealthy person you must work,” commented Al Dauray. “It is as simple as that. You need to start at a young age asking yourself, ‘What do I want to do?’ I chose a career I was comfortable with and followed in a path my father initially started me on. I used school as a place for exploration and found adults to talk to and to use as role models. Education today is even more critical than when I was starting out. In 1952 there were few graduate schools in America who even offered degrees in business. As American business grew there was an intense need for the skill set that allows you to be successful. This is even truer today. ”Dauray also remarked that Asia is replacing Europe as the economic engine of the world.
Dauray has called the Green Mountain State home for the past two decades. While traveling and dealing with various companies he had the chance to come to Vermont and was struck by the beauty of the state and diversity of people who call it home. As Vermonters come of age and seek to find their own niche Dauray shared that, "The work ethic of the people here coupled with the name recognition for quality work puts Vermont in a unique position for the future. Young people love it here and sadly often have to leave it to find work but Vermont will continue to be successful because its business practices are rooted in what comes naturally. As fuel becomes scarcer the economy will shift to a more local one. Vermont is positioned near Montreal, Boston and New York City which will serve as great markets for products.”
At eighty-seven years young Al Dauray is far from ready to call it quits and maintains a keen eye on global businesses and local agricultural and entrepreneurial ones as well. “One of the keys to being successful," shared Al, “is to be alert to opportunity and to be able to act on it.” A veteran of twenty-five years of computer business dealings, Dauray still prefers to meet people and hear from them their list of requirements and goals. As Calvin Coolidge stated, “the chief business of the American people is business,” and if you sit down sometime and talk with Al Dauray you will know how true that statement is.

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