Duff Young is a former CEO, COO and corporate officer and director who today owns a retained executive search firm in Midlothian, Virginia. He earned a BA in Journalism from Duquesne University and an MBA from Syracuse University.

Duff began his career in the advertising agency business where he worked first as a copywriter and then as an account executive and account supervisor at one of the world’s largest full-service advertising agencies.

After several years in the advertising agency business, Duff began a 30-year career working for some of the world’s largest and best-known manufacturing companies, including GE Plastics, where he worked under the direction of Jack Welch, the eventual Chairman and CEO of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE).

In 1978, Duff joined Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) as Director of Advertising for their Crouse-Hinds business in Syracuse, New York. He progressed steadily through a variety of sales, marketing and general management assignments in Mississippi, Connecticut and New York, ending up as Vice-President and General Manager of CooperTools in Raleigh, North Carolina, with responsibility for approximately $600 million in revenues, 24 manufacturing locations worldwide and over 5,000 employees.

In 1994, Duff joined Cabot Safety Corporation in Boston, Massachusetts as President/COO and Director. Duff led a management buy-out of the company from its parent, Cabot Corporation (NYSE: CBT), along with Vestar Capital Partners, a major New York City based private equity firm. During Duff’s three-year tenure as President, the company grew from $170 million in sales to nearly $300 million.

Next, Duff joined Formica Corporation in Cincinnati, Ohio as President. He worked with the parent corporation, BTR, headquartered in London, to restructure the business and led a successful sale to two major private equity partners.

Duff then spent nearly seven years as President/CEO and Director of Rehrig International, Inc. in Richmond, Virginia. Rehrig, which was jointly owned by management and Cravey Green & Wahlen, an Atlanta-based private equity firm, counted virtually every major US retailer among its customers. Among other products, Rehrig was the world’s largest manufacturer of plastic shopping carts. During Duff’s tenure revenues increased over 50%.

Following a change in ownership of Rehrig in 2005, Duff started Perspective Advisors, LLC, headquartered in Midlothian, Virginia, a suburb of Richmond. Perspective provides a variety of services for a small number of clients, but is focused mostly on executive search work. Other services have included interim/part-time CEO, outside director services, executive coaching and general business advisory services.