The Business Leadership Skills of Katun Corporation’s David Jorgensen

An entrepreneur and talented business leader, David Jorgensen has always taken a proactive approach to life. Attending the University of Utah, a family tradition, was pretty much the last thing he did that was preordained. Even then, he was a free thinker, changing his political leanings from Republican, his family’s party of choice, to Democrat while in college. Later, he discarded the tenets of both parties to become a Libertarian. Following his rather unexceptional undergraduate career, David Jorgensen went on to earn an M.B.A. from the University of Washington and an M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University as well as completing all work on a Ph.D. except for the dissertation. But it was business that would become his forte.

Throughout his career, Mr. Jorgensen demonstrated excellent leadership skills. He co-founded startups, interacted well with both the suits and those in the trenches, and became CEO of Dataquest, Inc., the first successful market research firm to use the newly available computer technology. Additionally, he and a partner founded and led Katun Corporation, an aftermarket supplier of alternatives to OEM (original equipment manufacturer) photocopier parts, imaging supplies, and photoreceptors. As examples of his leadership skills, he aided in acquiring firms, expanding the company to Europe, and opening new distribution centers, building Katun to a $350 million business by the time it was sold to private-equity investors in 2002.

David Jorgensen has extended his leadership to the nonprofit arena, establishing and overseeing the David and Annette Jorgensen Foundation and serving on the National Philanthropy Board of the Pacific Legal Foundation. He also acts as Vice Chairman of the Free to Choose Network. The latter organization supports and provides nonpartisan resources for independent analysis and critical thinking, traits Mr. Jorgensen has exhibited throughout his entrepreneurial career. At the group’s annual Winning Ideas Weekend, deserving teachers win the David and Annette Jorgensen Award for Excellence, another quality that can be ascribed to Mr. J.