George Davison
George Davison is the CEO and President of Davison Design and Development, Inc. With his goal to help inventors make their ideas into a product, Davison is well on his way to achieving this goal.
In order to know a man, you need to know where he comes from:
George Davison was born in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in 1963. He was raised by his mother and has a younger brother. He comes from a long history in business ownership and management. On his father's side, in 1854, his family formed Davison Sand and Gravel Corporation, which they grew for over 125 years into the largest operation of its type in all of Western Pennsylvania. What started out as a one man, one job business turned into a thriving company with dredge, truck, and plant operations that built the roads and foundations under steel plants of yesteryear. On his mother's side, there was McCreery Brothers Corporation, which designed, engineered, and fabricated heating and cooling systems for some of the most challenging structures in Pittsburgh. For those of you who are history buffs, if you ever heard of Frank Lloyd Wright's design called FallingWater, you know that William Bailey McCreery Jr. designed FallingWater's heating and cooling system. So if you ever come to Pittsburgh, you will probably touch some of this history by either visiting it, driving on it, or seeing buildings built upon it. It's not difficult to see why our founder is who he is. He comes from a strong business-oriented family on both sides for many generations.
George Davison started his first business in 6th grade. He would buy candy in bulk from a local merchant each morning and then sell it to the children at Shadyside Academy that day. Buying Charms lollipops for five cents and then selling them for 25 cents, he learned first hand how to buy and sell, as well as to create his first inventory system. As time passed, he found himself leading his fellow Kiskimenetas Spring School (prep) students as one of only a few students selected to run the dorms. He attended school six days a week in a coat and tie and held down his first major job managing his classmates.
When it came time for college, George Davison had two letters of nomination to the U.S. Naval Academy, one from Congressman Lyle Williams, and the other from Congressman Don Bailey. He decided to attend Allegheny College in 1982. On the first day of school, he met his wife, started a vending machine business, ran the commissary, and became house manager for The Phi Delta Allegheny Chapter. Davison graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and a minor in Computer Science.
Wanting to follow in his ancestors' footsteps, Davison realized that he too wanted to run his own business. He spent two years after graduation making a new product that killed toothbrush germs. Like most inventors, Davison felt the pain of someone beating him to market with an idea. Davison decided there must be an easier way to design, develop and present ideas to corporations. These obstacles are what prompted him to come up with a way for inventors to get their ideas designed and presented to corporations for possible licensing. Through this process, Davison came up with his greatest invention - Inventegration®, which is the unique process that drives his company. Today, Davison's company employs over 285 people in Pittsburgh. The facilities and technology in the plant are what dreams are made of. It's a magical place to work, because they create what was once only in the imagination.
In addition to his love of business and inventing, Davison is also a family man and active in community organizations. His wife, and his three children encourage his inventiveness as he does in them. Davison is involved in their church youth ministry, local high school activities, political fundraising events, and is active in the local schools putting an emphasis on the science of inventing. Educating kids about inventing is very important to Davison, as is allowing his employees to continue to learn. In the summer of 2003, Davison took his entire company on a field trip to Greenfield Village to see the Henry Ford Museum, which allowed them to experience another inventor's dream. Davison's continued love of inventing allows him to include his family, his community, and his employees in the continued quest to bring ideas from concepts to production designed product samples.
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