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12
D
AVE
M
UDRICK KNOWS THAT
opportunity comes when you least
expect it. However, he observes that it
has little to do with luck and much
more to do with drive, dedication and
a whole lot of desire.
Mudrick joined Topcon America in
1993 as a financial analyst. He had
wanted to work at an international
company and was willing to work hard
to get ahead. He took on a junior posi-
tion with vigor, understanding that for
several years it would likely keep him in
the back office performing day-to-day
financial work. But that was fine with
Mudrick. He was working on mergers and acquisitions at an
international company, gaining more experience every day. He
played an integral part in forging two major deals.
Though smart and eager, Mudrick was young. In the eyes of
Topcon’s traditional Japanese management, age was a critical
component of success. The junior employees were required to
“know their place,” Mudrick says, noting, “If you were junior, you
were junior. There was only a certain amount of exposure a
young guy would get to the inner sanctum.”
Regardless of past history, the executives in Japan clearly had
their eyes on Mudrick. Hard work was paying off. By 1999, he was
the No. 2 guy in the company’s U.S. financial operations and was
offered the CFO position when the then-CFO left. “I knew I was
young, but I also knew I was ready. The company executives told
me I was the logical choice and that it was my time,” he says.
Mudrick took on the role with gusto. He led a proposal to
reorganize U.S. operations to reduce redundancy. Topcon
America became a holding company with three subsidiaries,
and Mudrick took the position of CFO at the holding company.
The companies run independently, but the reorganization
eliminated triplicate services; there is now one administrative
strategy that includes finance, HR, legal and more. Banking rela-
tionships are managed at the holding company level, and all
1,100 employees share one 401K plan, for example.
Mudrick was more than content in his new role. He loved
working at Topcon and never really gave thought to the idea of
rising up through the ranks any further than CFO. But, once
again, the Japanese executives had other plans. When the then-
president of U.S. operations was called back to headquarters in
2006, Mudrick was chosen, out of four candidates, to be the next
president and CEO of Topcon America.
“Topcon is truly an international company,” he says. “Whoever
has the right stuff can and will get ahead. It’s about perform-
ance, commitment to the company and work ethic. I live that
and instill that in my team each and every day.”
J
AMES
H
UGHES CAN
’
T BELIEVE
there are many kids
who offer up “accountant” when asked what they want to be
when they grow up. Certainly, accountant wasn’t his life’s calling.
However, when Hughes headed off to college, he didn’t want to
pursue the sciences and believed a general business degree was
much too broad. “The universal language is numbers, so I fig-
ured an accounting degree would serve me well, no matter
which avenue I selected,” he says.
So, armed with his undergrad degree in accounting in 1980,
he took an assistant controller position at a small manufacturing
company making a whopping $12K a year.
That’s when he realized he needed to get serious about a
career path. A few years later, MBA in finance in hand, he
secured a job at Pete Marwick, now KPMG, as an auditor. As
luck would have it, he started working with financial institutions
from the start.
“At the time, if you joined a firm like that, they put you into
healthcare or manufacturing. So, while I was assigned to financial
services, it turned out to be the best thing that could have
happened because most of my clients were banks. By doing
audits, I learned how the industry worked and came to
understand the risks.”
He also met the right people. One of his “clients” was United
Jersey Bank (UJB). When it offered him the position as CFO of
UJB Financial’s mortgage division in 1989, he jumped at the
chance to get out of the back office.
In the 1990s, when news of bank mergers were a dime a dozen,
Hughes found himself cruising up his career ladder. After 11 years
at UJB serving in various organizational roles, he moved on to
Summit Bank Corp. in 2000, after Summit bought UJB. As senior
vice president running the bank’s accounting division, he was
well-positioned and happy with his success.
However, market forces stepped in once again. This time,
Fleet purchased some of Summit’s holdings, and Hughes knew
he would be relocated – not something he wanted for himself
or his family. That’s when another KPMG client, Unity Bank,
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UARTER
2012
David Mudrick,
president and CEO,
Topcon America Corp.
James Hughes, president and CEO, Unity Bank (right),
speaks with Andrew Zezas.