Don Irving: Standard Bearer
Don Irving, President of Black Point Realty & Nichols Square LLC. Age: 66, Hometown: Westminster, Years working in Central Mass.: 47
Irving is a champion of Gardner. There are others that do it louder, such as the city's young mayor Mark Hawke, and those who have been working for the city for longer, but few are as consistent as Irving. The company he founded, Data Guide Cable Corp., has been in the city since 1983 and still provides the kinds of manufacturing jobs that formed the backbone of the Chair City.
His passion expanded when started a realty and development company and proceeded to clean up the former manufacturing site that housed his business and created a development that now houses a Price Chopper, bringing much-needed shopping diversity and jobs and further cementing his long-standing influence.
Q&A
What is the future of manufacturing?
As required manufacturing skill sets change, it will be important for schools and manufacturers to collaborate on STEM programs to develop a workforce.
How can cities like Gardner push the regional economy forward?
Gardner is a great city to have a business in. If it could develop an incubator program for new startups, it could create many new opportunities.
Gathered below are the other Central Massachusetts' 2016 Power Players:
Standard Bearers: Long-time forces in the business community
- Timothy P. Murray, President & CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce
- Mike Angelini, Chairman of Bowditch & Dewey
- The Crowleys, Owners & Shareholders of Polar Beverages & Wachusett Mountain Ski Area
- Sandy L. Dunn, General manager at the SMG/DCU Center
Trail Blazers: Pioneers setting the latest economic trends
- Karim El-Gamal, Co-owner of the Rail Trail Flatbread Co./New City Microcreamery/
- Ed Moore, President & CEO of Harrington HealthCare System
- Girish Navani, CEO of eClinicalWorks
- Kevin O’Sullivan, President & CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, Worcester
- Alec Lopez & Sherri Sadowski, Owners of Armsby Abbey/Crust Bakeshop/The Dive Bar
Behind the Scenes: People in the background who keep the wheels turning
- Cheryl Lapriore, Chief of staff & chief marketing officer at UMass Memorial Health Care
- Gordon Lankton, Retired president of Nypro Inc.
- Ann T. Lisi, President & CEO of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
- Kate McEvoy-Zdonczyk, Vice president of business development at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Jim McGovern & Karyn E. Polito, U.S. Congressman & Lieutenant Governor
Next Wave: Forward thinkers ushering in the new economy
- Travis McCready, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
- Che Anderson, Project manager at the Office of the Worcester City Manager
- Jeannie Hebert, President & CEO of the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce
- Dean Rohan, Co-founder & owner, Tree House Brewing Co.
- Christine Thomas, Development partner at XSS Hotels and Colwen Management
Gear Shifters: Up-and-comers breathing new life into old ideas
- Meredith Harris, Executive director of the Marlborough Economic Development Corp.
- Tarek Elsawy, MD President & CEO of Reliant Medical Group
- Justin & Ashleigh Gelinas, Attorneys at Gelinas & Ward, LLP
- Cliff Rucker, Owner of the Worcester Railers Hockey Club and Worcester Sports Center
- Matthias Waschek, Director at the Worcester Art Museum
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