Help BusinessWest Identify the ‘Forty Under 40’

Western Mass. is blessed with a large core of young talent in its business community — entrepreneurs, lawyers, financial services experts, leaders in health care, education, marketing, technology, the biosciences, the non-profit sector, and more.

BusinessWest would like your help in identifying them for a special section to appear this spring called ‘Forty Under 40.’

As the name suggests, we’re talking about individuals under 40 years of age — not 60, the so-called ‘new 40,’ but the real 40, meaning they were born after 1966. To be precise, we’re looking for people who will not turn 4-oh before Jan. 1, 2008.

But the age parameters are just a way to identify the constituency in question. More important are the other attributes that will define those chosen as our Forty Under 40. In short, we’re looking for standouts, in whatever way that word can be defined. We’re assembling a list of leaders, people who are leaving their mark on the Western Mass. community and will hopefully do so for at least another few decades.

The key word in that sentence is community, because we’re looking to identify people who not only excel in whatever field they may be in — from mortgage lending to Internet service; from hospital administration to the district attorney’s office — but who also give back to the community through donations of time, money, sweat, vision, and imagination.

Here’s how it works: On page 45 of this edition of BusinessWest there’s a nomination form that spells out the program and lists the information needed for a candidate to be considered. The form is also available online atwww.businesswest.com, and via E-mail; requests should be sent to[email protected]

We’re very excited about this endeavor to identity and then recognize the young stars on the region’s business stage. With the help of a panel of judges we’ll narrow our list to 40. But first, we need your help to create a field from which choices can be made.

The nomination form takes just a minute to fill out, and can be done entirely online. Please take that minute and help us identify the Forty Under 40.

George O’Brien Editor