Ohio’s top eatery promoter
A Trinity grad is at the top of Ohio’s food chain.
John Barker is the new president and chief executive officer of Ohio Restaurant Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building up the Buckeye State’s food-service industry. It represents about 21,000 locations and more than 500,000 employees.
This is Barker’s second week on the job and he is as fired up as a high-end oven.
“I will promote the restaurant industry throughout Ohio and on a national basis … and connect our organization with some of the great programs at Ohio State,” he said in an email. “The ORA’s voice will be powerful.”
Roy Getz is pleased to have Barker – and his voice – on board. Getz is chairman of ORA’s board of directors.
“Under John’s leadership,” he said in a prepared statement, “ORA will become an even more positive force for the restaurant and hospitality industry, which is an engine for Ohio’s economy.”
Barker, 53, has developed a powerful voice as well, nurtured at 8th Ward Elementary, Trinity High and Waynesburg University; fine-tuned at his hometown newspaper and two other dailies; and perfected during two decades as a corporate executive. Before assuming this new position, he was a senior executive and chief communications officer at Wendy’s Co. for 18 years.
The seeds of his ascent, however, sprouted long before that. Barker was a dervish in college, not only taking a full course-load and working for the student paper, radio station and TV station, but covering sports for the Observer-Reporter. He worked part time at the O-R for 2 1/2 years before accepting a full-time position during his final semester.
Barker went on to become business editor at the Beaver County Times, then business desk editor at the Plain Dealer in Cleveland before going corporate: manager of financial communications for American Greetings in the Cleveland/Akron area. He joined Wendy’s four years later, in 1996, and stayed on for 18.
His duties included corporate planning, executive communications, media relations, corporate responsibility and sustainability, corporate website, investor relations and facilities management.
During the Wendy’s years, Barker secured a master’s in business administration at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business – where, for the past three-plus years, he also has been an adjunct professor. He teaches strategic management and marketing part time.
Though he refuses to sit back, Barker does sit on three boards of trustees: Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption; Catholic Social Services of Columbus; and Ohio Dominican University.
He has been with the Thomas Foundation the longest, since 2006. It strives to match adoptive families with children in foster care and was started by Dave Thomas, the late founder of the Wendy’s fast-food chain and a man who impressed Barker.
“He was a visionary, a good man and someone who gave back so much to society, most notably by founding (the foundation),” said Barker, who joined the other groups of trustees in 2015.
The restaurant association, founded in 1920, is headquartered in Columbus, a rapidly growing city that has been Barker’s base of operation for nearly two decades. Ohio State is there, of course, and Wendy’s headquarters and the Barker homestead are in suburban Dublin. John and his wife, Sharee, have three children: Megan 26; Kayla, 24; and Christian, 17.
John Barker has worked diligently, creating many of his own professional breaks. But he appreciates those who have assisted him and is pleased with where he is – about 160 miles from his roots.
“My career has been very rewarding,” he said, “and I’ve learned from so many people, including (the late) Byron Smialek, former sports editor at the O-R, who gave me my first job.
“I’ve truly enjoyed the restaurant industry.”
Now he oversees it in the Buckeye State.