The Orr file
John Orr
President and CEO
Myers Industries Inc.
Born: Akron
Education: Bachelor’s degree, organizational communication, Ohio University
What is your definition of success?
I think success in my particular case is seeing that Myers is succeeding, that our people are succeeding, that we’re meeting our objectives and our goals. What I want to do is make sure that we return the shareholders their investment. It’s been tough the last two years, quite frankly, because of the economy. But success shows up every day. When I see people with a smile on their face, they’ve done something well or they come up with a new order or they’ve created a new product, then I feel successful.
What was the last book you read?
It’s called ‘Healing Hearts’ (Dr. Kathy Magliato). It’s a memoir of a female heart surgeon. I read it because I have a daughter who is a third-year resident anesthesiologist at Virginia Commonwealth, and I’m always amazed at what she has gone through — 36-hour (shifts) and that kind of stuff. I can never get her to tell me what it’s like, so I read this book because that is what this book is about. It’s about this lady’s life as an intern and a resident. It was interesting because she was a resident at Akron General Hospital and I’m on the board at Akron General. She was very, very successful. I think there are only 1,000 female heart surgeons in the United States. I’m proud of my daughter because that’s what she does all day long; she’s in those types of surgeries and trauma surgeries.
