Photo by Wes Kroninger
Look around the City of Dublin – George Barrett can be spotted everywhere from the Dublin Rec Center lap pool and the walking paths that run throughout the City to, of course, the halls of the Cardinal Health headquarters off of Emerald Parkway, where he is chairman and CEO.
Though Barrett is the CEO of a Fortune 500 health care company that boasts a huge number of employees – Cardinal Health employs close to 4,500 people in the Dublin area alone, by Barrett’s estimate – this was never his goal. As a college athlete, musician and son of a poet/teacher mother and a therapist/musician father, Barrett’s original dream was to become a professional soccer player or make it big in the music industry.
After moving from his birthplace of Connecticut to New York for school and sustaining an injury that ended his soccer career, Barrett decided to pursue music full-time. He gravitated to New York due to an opportunity in the opera world, but his interests lay more in club performances, singing and songwriting. Then, Barrett was offered a life-changing opportunity: move to Los Angeles and become a professional musician.
“I loved the part of life with the singing and the writing and the recording,” says Barrett. “I didn’t like the other parts; having to deal with agents and the booking guys and the casting people and the business stuff, and also the lifestyle, which is hard to describe if you haven’t lived it.”
Instead, Barrett declined the offer, citing his relationship with his now-wife, Debbie Neimeth, as a factor in the decision as well. Next, Barrett decided he’d go to law school, but after being pressed by Neimeth’s father, Dick, Barrett realized he didn’t have a real reason to go to law school.
“I was thinking about going to law school not for any particular reason, but because I felt like I could do that,” says Barrett.
Eventually, Dick convinced Barrett to join his company. Over the course of eight years, Barrett worked his way up from the ground level to eventually run the company. His family moved from New York to Baltimore to Philadelphia until settling in Columbus after Barrett accepted the job with Cardinal Health in 2008, then as vice chairman and CEO of the company’s Healthcare Supply Chain Services.
Photo courtesy of Cardinal Health
“The community has been very welcoming to us and encouraging of our expansion,” says Barrett. “We have access to a broad labor pool because being in Dublin, you can live in the city, you can live in the countryside or the suburbs. Within 30 minutes of Dublin, you have pretty much every kind of living lifestyle.”
When asked what drew Barrett to the Columbus area, Barrett jokes that it certainly wasn’t the weather.
“I think it is unusual because you find enormous collaboration across businesses and industries; that’s not necessarily the norm in other places, but it is here,” says Barrett. “It’s a high standard, and that’s really exciting. I think that’s been one of the most gratifying things.”
Photo by Wes Kroninger
Barrett’s coworkers and the connections he’s made through Cardinal Health haven’t hurt, either.
“I knew that we wanted to recruit the best talent in the world, so it was encouraging to know that when we got here, we could do that,” says Barrett. “Once we can get people on an airplane to see it, the whole perspective changes. … The whole central Ohio region is, in many ways, thriving.”
In addition to his role at Cardinal Health, Barrett is on the board of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, co-chairman of the Columbus Education Commission and on the board of directors at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, to name just a few.
“I try to squeeze in as much life as I can in 24 hours; if that means a little less sleep, I can live with that,” says Barrett. “Things that I think really make me happy and whole as a person and a leader.”
Despite his impossibly busy schedule, Barrett still makes time for his three adult children – Kate, Zach and Emma – and, of course, his music. Barrett has made time every day for the last 30 years to play. It was only until recently, however, that Barrett decided to start playing publicly again.
Photo courtesy of Cardinal Health
“As my business career unfolded, it became more and more uncomfortable to perform in public and show this other side of myself,” says Barrett. “But over the last year and a half, I sort of let go of that worry, so I have been doing a little more performing in public.”
Although Columbus may not have been where either Barrett or his wife believed they’d end up, they’ve made it, and Dublin, their home, and say central Ohio continually grows and is an example for cities nationwide.
“Going from a suburban area to creating a walking village, I think, is what we’re going to see in suburban surroundings,” says Barrett. “People want to have different experiences. … I think some of the activity happening here is really good, and aligned with some of the really powerful trends.”
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
