UP CLOSE: Tom Ash

Tom Ash

TOM ASH

NEW JOB TITLE: Anaheim Hills, Calif.-based CEO for Burlington, Mass.-based Ametros Financial Corp., which sells products focused on settlement-related issues.

PREVIOUS POSITION: Anaheim Hills, Calif.-based executive vp for Ametros Financial Corp.

GOALS FOR NEW POSITION: I want to scale the company so that it can handle and grow with the market.

BEST THING ABOUT A BAD ECONOMY: It forces people to examine where they have the most impact with the resources they have to apply. It is easy to spread resources when there is not a lot of accountability. But in a weak economy, it is critical to apply those resources appropriately, timely and accurately.

FIRST EXPERIENCE IN JOB MARKET: A stand-alone industrial clinic in California called Occucare (Occupational & Mobile Medicine). It was an introduction to workers compensation and the workers comp health industry.

ADVICE: Understand the nuances and the differences between commercial health care and the delivery of workers compensation. The differences are large.

SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME: The only job is to think. One can tell how you think by what you say. That's been more vital to shaping my career than anything else.

OUTSIDE THE INDUSTRY, A DREAM JOB: I'm a professional chef by trade, but I haven't practiced for years. I would love to be a chef of a restaurant that is only open for dinner four days a week, and only has 25 seats.

HOBBIES: I have four children, so they are my primary hobby. Secondary is my culinary hobby. I also enjoy my work, for many more hours than some people would want me to.

FAVORITE MEAL: Thanksgiving. That's as much about the opportunity to prepare it all as getting the family getting together.

ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON: Coaching my son in collegiate running or at a movie with my younger son. Or I am catching up on emails, or working on charts and graphs.

EMAIL OR PHONE, AND WHY: I am a firm believer in the best type of communication is face to face, and the second is voice to voice. I prefer phone because of the interactions, even though I live by email.