Page 8 - MayJune2026 Vol 44 No 1

ARDURRA
PW Spotlight: Houston Daugherty

Ardurra, Market Growth Director

First, tell us about yourself, your career, firm to reinforce resources and add
and your family. depth of expertise, a move designed to
Houston Daugherty began his career serve the Public Works community more
growing up on a small farm in rural East completely while offering his “pretty cool
Tennessee, learning the importance of team” personal and professional growth
hard work, commitment, dedication, and opportunities.
serving those around him. Those core Share your current title and what duties
values are daily reminders as he strives to you perform currently.
help others grow and achieve success. Now part of Ardurra, Daugherty’s
He has been married to his wife Tanya newest role as Market Growth Director
for nearly 40 years, and they are proud focuses on partnering at deeper levels
parents of four adult children; a daughter with the Public Works and infrastructure
and her three “helpful, bothersome, industry. He is proud to work with
protective, supportive, unpredictable and roadways, traffic signals, water and sewer
reliable brothers.” facilities, natural gas distribution, fiber How does your Agency support your
Daugherty began riding motocross as and electric transmission/distribution, involvement with TCAPWA?
an eleven-year-old, and he continues that GIS asset management, stormwater An associate TCAPWA member,
activity to this day. He likes to say, “if there’s management, and a variety of public Daugherty said his agency has sponsored
not a risk of getting hurt or killed, it ain’t infrastructure improvement, upgrades, awards, participated in various fundraising
really a sport” along with “it’s only stupid maintenance, and new facility efforts. CCI sponsorships and provided engineering
if you get hurt.” He admits to being stupid looks forward to this next chapter of consulting services.
more than once, but stressed that if you community service.
want to learn, grow, and have an impact, For more than 30+ years, Daugherty How have you been able to transfer your
you have to take a few risks along the way. has developed a multi-faceted perspective experience from TCAPWA to your work in
A first-generation college graduate, infused with both private consulting and your Agency or vice versa?
Daugherty began his career in the Public public insight. His depth of expertise Daugherty has merged various
Works arena in 1993, entering the civil helps offer solutions and suggestions in an perspectives and insights for the purpose
engineering field and working with uncomplicated manner, even for the most of serving at the highest level possible.
municipal clients. His “client community” complex situations. Whether it is a textbook design of a Public
expanded to utilities, counties, and state- Works project or an emergency repair that
level Public Works – oriented professionals. How did you find out about TCAPWA, and must have a reliable solution quickly, he
After working in Memphis with a regional how did you get involved initially? pulls from multiple directions to develop a
consulting firm, he advanced to a national He discovered TCAPWA in the mid- customized solution. He learned, long ago,
footprint company in construction 90s, attending his first TCAPWA Annual that the truly best solutions come not from
products sales. He served as City Engineer Conference in Memphis, at what was then one person, but from a cross-section team
for a West Tennessee community before the Adam’s Mark Hotel. Coincidentally, of experienced people all contributing to
transitioning back to East Tennessee, the former Adam’s Mark is now the the right answer.
where he joined a large consulting firm Hilton, location of the 2025 TCAPWA He said “it matters not what your role
and eventually landed at Knoxville-based Conference (which Daugherty attended). is, it matters what your perspective and
Cannon & Cannon, Inc. (CCI); a move that During your time with TCAPWA what experience is,” a philosophy he gained
would lead to ownership and his time as involvement have you had? working the shovel first and the math
CEO. He defined the CEO title as “servant He’s attended the annual conference second. However, there is one thing that
to others” rather than “boss over others.” nearly every year, with a gap during his matters more, in his strong opinion, that is
In his role as CCI’s CEO, Daugherty years as City Engineer in the early 2000’s. “the people who are making it happen.”
guided the group’s rapid growth, doubling Daugherty finds that gap unfortunate, Awards and Commendations?
in employee size in less than five years because while the municipality generally Daugherty said while he’s appreciative
to 100 employees. His team’s statewide supported the Public Works staff, it did of the awards and commendations he’s
footprint expanded literally from the not necessarily encourage or support received, and while they all certainly were
farthest reaches of upper East Tennessee, the engineering side to attend. The 2026 an honor, he prefers not to list them here.
to the state’s southwest corner, along TCAPWA Annual Conference, will mark He stated that “the best award is a reward;
with many more friends in between. The his 21st consecutive year of attendance and the reward of being a contributing part of
opportunity arose to join with a larger associate member support. Public Works. Thank you.”

8 TPW May/June 2026