Brad Kane is the Editor for Worcester Business Journal. Kane came to Worcester from its sister publication Hartford Business Journal, where he most recently served as managing editor. Kane talked his way onto HBJ’s staff in May 2010, previously working as a Boston Globe correspondent and a staff writer for the Patriot Ledger in Quincy. In another journalism life, he covered local politics in northern Ohio and southwest Florida. Kane has been honored for his work by the Alliance of Area Business Publications, the Florida Press Club, Ohio Associated Press and the National Society of Professional Journalists. He graduated from The Ohio State University, with an honor’s degree in journalism. He lives a calm, sleep-filled life in Wilbraham, Mass. with his wife, five young children and Texas heeler. In his 42 minutes of weekly free time, Kane runs the sidewalks, streets and trails of Western Massachusetts.
Four years ago, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and the ensuing national reckoning on race, business and political leaders in Central Massachusetts and across the nation were falling over themselves to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in an attempt to mitigate the stain of America’s original sin.
The nearly 1,000 winners of the 40 Under Forty awards from the last 25 years have gone onto great things, and we catch up with 25 alumni for the 25th anniversary.
This special edition is a celebration of everything the 40 Under Forty has meant to the Central Massachusetts business community over the last 25 years, with a heavy focus on the incoming Class of 2024.
Even though very few companies are actually using AI now – a U.S. Census Bureau survey from November found only about 4% of businesses are using the technology – the anticipation is many, many more will use it in the future.
Compared to WBJ’s year-end Economic Forecast survey published in December, Central Massachusetts business leaders aren’t quite as optimistic as they were six months ago.
Economic projections and forecasts are a funny exercise. Trying to predict how the economy will look in the future is certainly a worthy effort, and many professionals’ lives are centered around figuring out what comes next for business and industry.
When I was growing up in a small city in Ohio, one of the main community gathering places was a single-screen movie theater on the city’s main street. With its ever-changing marquee and settled amid a few blocks of downtown commerce full of owner-operator small businesses, that theater was a fixture of my early childhood.