40 Under Forty: Meet this year's class

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By Rick Saia

As business leaders, many of us wonder who will step up as leaders of tomorrow. In some cases, we leave legacies we hope will be carried out. Others, though, carve their own legacies.

There's a good mix of that in this year's class of 40 Under Forty honorees, our 16th. They come from a variety of industries and different backgrounds. Here are some interesting statistics regarding this year's group:

• There is gender balance: 20 are men and 20 are women.

• Seven work in the financial services sector, three in education and two in health care, accounting for 30 percent of this year's class.

• This year's 40 hold a combined 24 degrees from Central Massachusetts colleges and universities. Which school had the highest number of degrees in this group? Clark University, with eight.

Enjoy their stories over the next 19 pages, along with their selfies — located underneath their profiles — which we requested from each of them.

We're proud to present their stories here, and look forward to honoring them on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at our annual 40 Under Forty awards event at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.

How we selected this year's class

This year's honorees were selected after a months-long call for nominations. And we received more than 70 nominations this year, slightly more than in 2014.

We then turned to this year's panel of judges – Karen Chapman of the Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce; and three previous 40 Under Forty honorees: Matt Ward (2011), Alicia O'Connell (2014) and Paul Belsito (2012). Click here to read their profiles.

Our thanks to the judges, as well as to Amy Chase (Class of 2013), owner of the Crompton Collective in Worcester's Canal District for hosting the annual leadership breakfast and photo shoot for this year's 40 Under Forty class in July.

Below left is the list of this year's honorees and links to their profiles.