Catching up with Dave Hughes

Name: Dave Hughes

Hometown: Newcomerstown and Greenville, Ohio

College: Ohio Northern University in Ada (undergrad); DePaul University in Chicago (graduate school).

Occupation: Executive vice president of On Target Performance Group (www.ontargetpg.com), a small management consulting firm based out of Columbus.

Favorite Quote: “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” − Vincent Peale

What would your readers be surprised to know about you?

"I’ve lived in the city for so long that most people probably think I am a city person, when in fact I much prefer small town or rural living."

Please tell us a little bit about your family, where you currently reside, and what hobbies you enjoy:

“I was born in Greenville, Ohio, the son of Dave and Shirley Hughes. My family (parents and sisters Darsi, Liz and Penny) moved to Newcomerstown in the summer of 1973 when my dad got the varsity basketball and baseball coaching jobs at the high school that year. I immediately felt at home in Newcomerstown and considered it a treat to spend so much time at the varsity practices and games, even though I was just a middle schooler.

"After moving back to Greenville in 1977 to be closer to extended family (and my dad getting the head coaching job at Minster, Ohio), I graduated from high school there in 1980. It was a sad day for me to leave Newcomerstown, where I 'grew up,' but I know life throws us many curve balls and it all works out in the end.

"I moved to Chicago in 1985, a year after graduating from Ohio Northern University, where I’ve been living since, with the exception of three years spent abroad in Amsterdam.

"I have two amazing high school kids − Anderson is a sophomore, Isa (short for Isabella) is a freshman, both at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago. Anderson was a first chair saxophone player as a freshman, and Isa is already vying for a varsity spot on the volleyball team in her freshman year.

"Outside of work, I like getting out of the city to enjoy some peace and quiet. I own five acres of woods in Northwest Indiana, an hour from Chicago, and we visit there as often as we can, either to camp or to just hang out. My children and I are currently in the middle of building a large treehouse, and are excited to finish the project.”

Where have you been employed since college?

“The first 16 years of my career were spent with a Dutch company called Van Leer Packaging. Most of those years were based in Chicago with significant travel to all of Van Leer’s U.S. locations. Three of those 16 years (1996-1999) were spent working at their global headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I began as a staff accountant in 1984 and by the time I left in 2000, I was manager of accounting for all U.S. locations. While in Amsterdam; I was controller overseeing the reporting for all Australia, Western Europe and North America.

"After Van Leer, I had a few different CFO and COO positions until 2008, when I partnered up with a former college friend from Ohio Northern University to start a management consulting practice and have now been with On Target Performance Group since 2008.”

Please tell us about your current job, what your responsibilities entail and what you enjoy about your occupation?

"As a senior manager for a consulting firm, I deal directly with clients (super small companies all the way up to billion-dollar businesses) to deliver improved performance opportunities. Some clients need a new computer system, some need to better understand their profitability (or lack of), and how to translate that information into action that will improve their organization. Every client and situation is unique, and my experience across multiple industries and organizations is really what provided me the opportunity to do this. It's very satisfying when a client writes a recommendation letter that you didn’t even ask for. I am lucky to do what I do, and I enjoy it tremendously!

"One of my favorite client experiences was with a large logistics company in Columbus. They had five product lines but did not know exactly their profit/loss by product line. They were confused as to why their investments in one particular product line was causing their profits to go down. After spending a couple of months analyzing their data, we restated their profit/loss numbers and found that the product line they were investing in was actually losing money, not making money as they thought. This information changed their entire strategic planning.”

Tell us about your time spent growing up in Newcomerstown and what do you miss about the Newcomerstown Community?

"I have such fond memories of living in Newcomerstown! We lived there from when I was in sixth grade until after my freshman year of high school. I had such wonderful teachers, coaches and, of course, many great friends. Summers were spent riding my bike with those friends out in the country, through the hills and woods, and, of course, always riding to the park to play some basketball or hang out at the pool. I especially enjoyed my time playing sports (basketball, baseball and track in middle school), and recall many one-on-one basketball games with Kenny Sharrock in his backyard, rain or shine. I also recollect the basketball rivalry between Indian Valley South (coach Charlie Huggins and all his boys), as those were some of the most intense high school games I can ever remember.

"Other great memories include the time I spent in marching band and attending all the football games. I was fortunate to travel to Florida with the Newcomerstown High School marching band to play in the Orange Bowl festivities in 1976, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that will never be forgotten. Shout out to Paul Yanai and all my former drum mates!

"Speaking of football, it was a real treat to meet Archie Griffin at an event when I was in middle school, and to watch Woody Hayes give the commencement speech at one of the high school graduations at the football field, which I was able to watch from our backyard by the stadium.”

Is there anything else you would like to highlight?

“I unfortunately do not get back to Newcomerstown very often due to my kids' schedules, as well as work. I was able to attend a class reunion in 2010 and had a fantastic time! I hope my old classmates will invite me back to another. While I was in town that year, I was able to visit my old house, which is now the school administration building at 702 S. River St. It seemed like a mansion to a young sixth grader, but appeared so much smaller when I last visited, however, it still had that “home” feel that I so fondly recalled.”

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Catching up with Dave Hughes, a Newcomerstown native