40 Under Forty 2020: Karim El-Gamal
Photo | Matthew Wright
Karim El-Gamal
- Title: Co-owner
- Companies: Rail Trail Flatbread Co, New City Microcreamery & Less Than Greater Than, in Hudson
- Residence: Hudson
- Birthplace: Switzerland
- Colleges: McGill University, Babson College
More Information
Any visitor to downtown Hudson who hasn’t been there in awhile will notice some changes, and not just the street work ongoing this summer ripping up sidewalks and a remade rotary. Hudson has become a star of MetroWest thanks to a stretch of Main Street featuring a few notable destinations opened in the last decade, including Karim El-Gamal’s Rail Trail Flatbread Co., and across the street, New City Microcreamery and – shhh!! – a hidden speakeasy bar in the back, Less Than Greater Than.
El-Gamal, who moved to town in 2012, is the co-owner and finance head of all three, which are a few blocks away from the aerial yoga studio co-owned his wife, Lora Markova. Today, the establishments, joined by a sibling New City Microcreamery in Cambridge, employ 140 people. El-Gamal is a founding member and vice president of the Hudson Business Improvement District, the first such one in Central Massachusetts, which has used small tax surcharges on property owners to pay for ArtsFest, sidewalk dining and a central website for the neighborhood. As the manager of his companies’ finances, El-Gamal is an open book, literally. The employees are given a share in the profits, and they use a management system teaching financial literacy. Before he started all this, El-Gamal was the founder, drummer, and money guy for The Delegates band from 1999-2006, who made three albums, sold 10,000 records, performed 350+ times across Canada and the U.S., including the eastern leg of the 2005 Vans' Warped Tour.
Who will play you in the movie about your life? Rami Malek. He has an Egyptian background and experience playing a rocker, which I did full time in the past.
What do you miss from your pre-pandemic life? Having family-style meals with friends, coworkers, vendors and guests.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments