Celebrating the 40 Under Forty
Editorial
Turtlepalooza. The Sheriff’s Shuffle. Lynchie and Friends. Swim 1922.
Monson Free Library. The Miracle League of Western Massachusetts. Credit for Life. Girls on the Run.
Head of Internal Audit. Founder and CEO. Dental practice owner. Farm & Food Products Program director.
Respectively, these are some of the unique community programs that members of the 40 Under Forty class of 2025 are involved with; just a few of the nonprofits to which they donate time, energy, and expertise; and a handful of the many impressive titles they now hold.
Collectively, all this helps tell story of this class, which, like the 18 before it, is full of rising stars doing impressive things. And, like previous classes, this one is diverse, although 29 are women, tying a record set just last year; what that trend means, we don’t exactly know.
But it’s diverse in every other sense of that word, including geography — members represent communities from Greenfield to Monson; Holyoke to Ludlow — and business sectors. Indeed, while there are bankers, accountants, and nonprofit managers, there’s also a DJ with his own entertainment company, an EMS coordinator, and the employment program supervisor for the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department.
This rich diversity and collection of inspiring stories helps explain why BusinessWest created its 40 Under Forty program back in 2007. The strategy was simple: solicit nominations from across Western Mass., hand them to a panel of judges, let them decide which ones stand out the most, and then inspire a region by simply telling their stories.
We’re up to 760 of them now, and each one has been different, but with some common denominators — namely, outstanding work in their chosen field and a willingness to give back to the community.
And by highlighting what they do, we learn more about them — whether they keep bees and sell honey or play the guitar or raise milking shorthorns — and this personalizes the stories, bringing into focus the many ways in which they balance life and work.
One of the reasons we created Forty Under 40 and tell these stories is to inspire others to follow the lead of those being honored and find their own way to stand out. And we have to believe that the program has done that.
After reading about these 40 people, how could you not be inspired?
