2024 Power 100: Ralph Crowley Jr.

Men in light blue shirts, red ties, and dark blue baseball caps hold up blue cans of seltzer outside.

photo | courtesy of worcester red sox Ralph Crowley Jr. (center) stands with the late Larry Lucchino (right) and Worcester Mayor Joe Petty (left) at the 2019 groundbreaking of Polar Park.

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By Eric Casey

Ralph Crowley Jr. Title President & CEO Company Polar Beverages, in Worcester Employees 2,300 Residence Worcester Colleges Bowdoin College, Clark University Read all the Power 100 profiles here
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With the passing of Worcester Red Sox chairman and former principal owner Larry Lucchino and the taking over of the franchise by Diamond Baseball Holdings, a New York-based corporation that now owns dozens of minor league teams, minority owner Ralph Crowley Jr. has arguably become the local face of the franchise. Yet, his WooSox ownership is only small part of the Crowley family empire Ralph leads.

Part of the fourth generation of the family to run Polar Beverages, Ralph Crowley took over the helm of the drink manufacturer in 1992. His name has appeared in WBJ countless times since, as under his leadership the company has continued to grow. Today, Polar’s 2,300 total employees help the company manufacture more than 300 million cases of beverages a year.

Beyond his WooSox involvement, Crowley has also found other ways to engage the sports world; in October, Polar announced it inked a distribution deal with A-GAME Beverages, a sports drink company whose board members include former Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee outfielder Johnny Damon and former professional football and baseball all-star Bo Jackson.

Polar has even taken to the high seas, as in January the company was named the official seltzer partner for US Sailing, the governing body for the sport responsible for selection and training of the team representing the United States in the Olympic Games.

Polar’s leader is already part of the winter sports scene, as the Crowley family owns Wachusett Mountain Ski Area on the border of Princeton and Westminster.

The 27-trail ski area has been operated by the family for more than 55 years, and the mountain’s 900,000 visitors in 2023 made it the second-largest tourist attraction in Central Massachusetts.

Read all the Power 100 profiles here.