Jeff Bowling at the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO

Abstract

What was essentially a sales organization is forced to morph quickly into a full-fledged healthcare staffing and recruiting business headed by a CEO who was a former baseball coach with no business background. But he knew enough to invest heavily in technology and to continuously look for ways to improve the flow of financial information to take advantage of his company's stellar growth that was fueled by a doctor shortage. Part of the company's success was attributed to its culture, driven by its employees. By 2008, Delta had moved up 589 spots on the Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest-Growing Companies. Despite his company's continuing growth, the CEO does not intend to rest on his laurels. Excerpt UVA-ENT-0114 April 7, 2009 JEFF BOWLING @ THE DELTA COMPANIES: FROM BASEBALL COACH TO CEO The Delta Companies (Delta), headquartered in Dallas, Texas, was a privately held healthcare staffing and recruiting firm, specializing in permanent and temporary placement of physicians and mid-level healthcare professionals across the U.S. Delta's President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff M. Bowling was a 20-something former baseball coach with no business background when he started the company in 1997 as Delta Medical Consulting. The start-up was funded by Dave Wood, a successful Texas businessman. In 2003, when Wood decided to sell the company, Bowling sold everything he owned and bought it. Under Bowling's leadership Delta expanded from about 20 to 240 employees without any outside investments, and within five years, the company was the third-fastest-growing private healthcare staffing firm in the United States, with annual revenues of $ 60 million. . . .