The Judges: How WBJ picked the 40 Under Forty, Class of 2022
From left, Che Anderson, Jessica Strunkin, and David Zamarian
This year’s 40 Under Forty class was selected from the top candidates out of 211 nominations for 119 professionals in the Central Massachusetts business community.
As in previous years, WBJ solicited nominations for the awards for nearly a year through the early May deadline, where anyone could nominate a local professional for the award, including self-nominations. To be eligible, nominees must work in Central Massachusetts, live in Massachusetts, and be under the age of 40 by the day of the awards ceremony, which is Sept. 14 this year.
The nominations were sent to judges Che Anderson, Jessica Strunkin, and David Zamarian, who independently scored each nominee. WBJ then confirmed the eligibility of the nominees with the highest cumulative judges’ scores, and they became the Class of 2022.
Meet the judges:
Che Anderson is the assistant vice chancellor for city and community relations at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, where he serves as a human bridge between the institution and external stakeholders. His endeavors include serving on the board of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the executive committee of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Previously, he served as a project manager for the City of Worcester, including refurbishing of the Civil War memorial and World War II memorial on the Worcester Common. He co-founded the organization Worcester Walls, which has since facilitated the painting of more than 200 street art murals throughout the city. He is a member of the WBJ 40 Under Forty, Class of 2018.
Jessica Strunkin serves as MassDevelopment’s lead staff person in Devens, as executive vice president, with oversight of its Departments of Public Safety, Environmental Engineering, Public Works, Recreation, and Utilities. Strunkin joined MassDevelopment in February 2019. Prior to that, she served as deputy director of the 495/MetroWest Partnership, where she worked in various roles since 2008, overseeing operations and government affairs for public-private collaboration with businesses, municipalities, and other stakeholders in a 35-community region. She previously served as government affairs director for the North Central Mass. Chamber of Commerce. She has won the Boston University Department Graduate Prize for Excellence in International Relations.
Driven to overcome challenges faced by immigrant parents, David Zamarin is the founder and CEO of Framingham-based DetraPel, which is an advanced materials company manufacturing protective coatings without any cancer-causing fluorochemicals and was seen on season 9 of ABC’s show “Shark Tank”. He founded two other companies he has since exited. Zamarin sits on the Entrepreneurial Advisory Board of FedEx, is a strategic advisor for EntrepreneurShares, and is an advisor for Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School. He is a member of Forbes 30 Under 30, WBJ’s 40 Under Forty, and BostInno’s 25 Under 25, and a winner of the 2022 U.S. Small Business Administration’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
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