Doug Puchko says his “happy place” is relaxing on a beach with a cool drink in his hand while watching a sunset.
His other “happy place” is downtown Johnstown, where a wallpaper beach scene provides additional warmth to his office at 515 Main St.
Douglas P. Puchko is celebrating the first anniversary of his Puchko Financial Associates Inc. The business, founded Feb. 14, 2006, provides a variety of products and services including whole life and term insurance, annuities and estate conservation planning.
“The convenience of downtown is exceptional,” he said. “The networking is great.”
He’s close to restaurants, the chamber of commerce and the people with whom he does business.
Doug admits he didn’t come downtown much until opening an office there to tie in with Ohio National Life Insurance Co. for whom he is a general agent. But now that he is here, he realizes how many offices are downtown and how much activity there is.
He is one of those interested in what the Discover Downtown Partnership is seeking to do. He would like to see the downtown grow and prosper.
His office is not far from the piece of ground that housed the former Sani-Dairy and where work on a regional technology complex is underway.
Doug drove a tractor-trailer for the dairy for 13 years before getting into the financial industry. He worked for John Paros at Met Life in Richland for seven years before starting his own business.
His office is just down Main Street from where Penn West moved to earlier this year.
He credits Mr. Paros and Met Life with giving him the training he needed to start his own business.
Like many, though, he is not crazy about the downtown parking situation.
“I don’t like the parking situation, but I understand it,” he said. “Wherever you are there are tradeoffs.”
He knows that the city needs the revenue and without meters people would be parking all day in one spot.
Mr. Puchko, a native of Cambria City, said he parents instilled in him a strong work ethic. He and his wife, Maureen, who is an integral part of the business, reside in Brownstown. They have three children – Kristy, who works in New York City; Kayla, who is graduating from the University of Pittsburgh; and Doug, a student at Bishop McCort High School.
Mr. Puchko has earned various professional designations. Last year he was named Ohio National’s Rookie General Agent.
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