NORTH BENTON, Ohio — When David O’Brock was a young boy he had visions of doing something really big in his life. Thanks to 4-H – mission accomplished.

O’Brock, now 41, grew up near North Benton, a small town in northeastern Ohio in Mahoning County. His mother was an advisor for a 4-H club, and he attended those meetings long before he was old enough to join the organization. Today, O’Brock gives credit to 4-H for leading him to a career in international business.

“I’m always happy to share with others how 4-H has made an impact on my life and how it was an integral part of my being where I am today,” he said.

O’Brock now lives in Estonia, where he is CEO for Molycorp Silmet AS, a 500-employee company and division of U.S. Molycorp, the largest U.S. producer of rare earth metals.

O’Brock and his wife, Triin Kaljuvee-O’Brock, and their two children (ages 11 and 13), live in Rakvere, Estonia. The couple met when O’Brock was 24, while visiting Estonia during a youth exchange offered through Ohio 4-H.

Travelling is in his bloodline. His parents are owners of O’Brock Windmill Distributors and he accompanied them across the country when installing windmills.

“I got the love of travel from going all over the U.S. with my parents,” O’Brock said.

When he was 17 he participated in a year-long Rotary exchange to Australia. Traveling became his pastime. After high school he entered The Ohio State University with a concentration on International Studies.

In 1992 he applied to Ohio 4-H’s International 4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) program, which accepted students up to age 25. Two years later O’Brock was accepted into the program.

“Initially I wanted to go to Costa Rica because I spoke Spanish, and I really liked South and Central American girls,” he said, laughing. “I remember the IFYE national coordinator calling me one day and suggested going to Estonia, immediately after the Soviet breakup. My first reaction was that it was cold there.”

O’Brock applied and agreed to go to Estonia. It was that country’s first-ever student exchange. He fell in love with a host-sister in one of the families in Estonia. He and Triin married in 1996, living in Ohio before returning to Estonia in 1998.

O’Brock’s company, which has been featured on National Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” obliges him to travel to six continents every year. Not surprisingly, he speaks fluent Estonian and Russian.

“I don’t really miss the U.S. because I travel there three or four times a year,” he said.

“I’m one of those strange people who is happy wherever he is, as long as he is with the ones that are most dear to him, and that’s my family.

“I do miss Ohio farming and I do say the farming is a bit different here. Most farmers in Estonia are organic farmers whether they realize it or not. There is not a lot of money for chemicals, growth enhancement or food additives for livestock and crops. The farming is on a much smaller scale with a lot of focus on family farms and cooperatives of 100 acres and less.”

Growing up in Ohio and participating in 4-H, O’Brock was highly interested in the club’s rocket program.

“David was an avid fan of rockets, so much so that he was a 4-H advisor and taught rocketry to high school students after school,” said his father, Ken. “David also tended to dairy goats on our 65-acre farm, but when he was around others he was a take-charge type of individual.”

“I had hoped that my exchange would give me more of that worldly experience, which I thought we be needed to be a successful diplomat,” O’Brock said. “Today I do more diplomatic work than I could have ever imagined, only I do it for private entities rather than governments.”

O’Brock and his wife, whose father is a member of the Estonian Parliament, also have given back to the program that brought them together, hosting an Ohio 4-H Youth Study Tour group in 2000. Ten Ohio 4-Hers went to Estonia where they lived with families near O’Brock’s village.

“I think the Ohio kids had a great experience, and I was able to arrange a reciprocal trip to the U.S. for the Estonian host siblings the following year,” O’Brock said.

He believes the IFYE program’s goals of building cultural understanding and promoting international relations can have a profound effect on the right people.

“It takes a special type of person to be an IFYE participant,” David said. “You have to be ready for anything, from living on an organic farm picking up rocks from the field to helping your host dad build the house of his dreams, to going to high-profile functions or being interviewed on radio, or just being able to hold up your end of a conversation about anything.

“4-H provides the opportunity to learn a wide range of skill sets and gives a good, broad foundation for a normal, healthy adult to develop upon.”

To see the Estonia 4-H website, go to www.eesti4h.ee