Local business owner and civic leader, Chuck Kempton, has been named the 2018 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. Chuck is a 1978 graduate of Smith-Cotton High School. Following high school he worked at local businesses in Sedalia until he joined the family business, Dugan Paints, in 1981 as a clerk, one of the three employees in the business. He began travelling to the Lake of the Ozarks pursuing long-term clientele while selling merchandise out of a van and evaluating the potential business opportunity in the lake area. He coordinated the design and development of a new store in Laurie, Missouri, driving from Sedalia to the lake six days a week to run the new operation. He then began exploring the potential of a store in Osage Beach, Missouri, which he opened in 1992. In 1997 Dugan’s purchased a paint store In Warrensburg and re-located the Sedalia store from 16th Street to Erika Ave. He was then general manager of four stores and three warehouses.
Since becoming sole owner of the business in 2000, he has expanded into floor coverings, renaming the business Dugan’s Paint & Flooring Center, and has grown from primarily a local paint store to an area leader in the paint, window treatment, and floor covering industry employing 50 people. One nominator wrote of Chuck’s business strategy, “Chuck Kempton’s belief that his customers deserve a quality product and impeccable service is a driving force behind his desire for all employees to know the products and how to serve people.”