Vernon Nagel

Lighting—commercial and residential, indoor and outdoor, traditional and LED—is Acuity’s game. Since the U.S. construction industry revived after the recession, Nagel (CEO since 2004) has illuminated the path to growth with strategic acquisitions and collaborations with city and state governments. In the past year, he positioned Acuity as a leader in high-tech lighting through three acquisitions: Distech Controls, ByteLight, and Juno Lighting. Moves like this have led to eight consecutive quarters of double-digit sales volume increases. In 2015, annual sales jumped 13% to $2.7 billion while profit surged 26% to $222.1 million. Next up? Nagel recently announced that investments will go into redesigning facilities to include open workspaces and new infrastructures to attract the best talent, provide employees “with the best work environment possible and the tools and technologies necessary” to drive future success—and create an innovative culture that will continue lighting the company’s way to profits.