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Nominations Sought for the 40 Under Forty Class of 2020

In Search of Rising Stars

Five hundred and twenty.

That’s how many men and women from across Western Mass. — yes, some of them now with AARP cards, or at least a few invitations to sign up — are members of a fairly exclusive club.

These are the individuals with BusinessWest 40 Under Forty plaques on their desks or their framed profile on their wall.

It’s a club that includes entrepreneurs and nonprofit managers, educators and legislators, lawyers and accountants, restaurant owners and fitness-club founders. There was even a high-school student who managed to impress the judges enough to become a member of the class of 2011.

But enough about the members of first 13 classes of honorees. We’re looking for the next group — the 40 who can call themselves members of the class of 2020.

It all starts with nominations. If you’ve nominated someone before, you know the drill. If you haven’t — and you should, because you undoubtedly know some rising stars in this region and need to let us know about them — the form can be found by going HERE.

But whether you’ve nominated someone before or not, you need to understand the importance of a thorough, complete nomination, one that will capture the attention of the judges, bring the qualifications and talents of the individual to the forefront, and ultimately bring that nominee to the stage at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in June.

As BusinessWest Associate Publisher Kate Campiti explains, “in recent years, we’ve seen the number of nominations rise steadily — in some years to nearly 200 individuals. That’s why it’s important to be detailed with one’s nomination and explain in clear, direct language why the individual in question is deserving of this honor — deserving of having that plaque on their desk.”

As noted earlier, honorees have come from all sectors of business and also from public service and the nonprofit realm. The only prerequisites are that nominees be under age 40 as of April 1, 2020 and that they be standouts in their field — and in the community.

The deadline for submitting nominations is end of day on Feb. 14. That’s right, Valentine’s Day. Those nominations will be sent to a panel of five judges (they will be announced early next month), and the scores will be tallied. The 40 highest scorers (after ties are broken) will comprise the class of 2020.

And, of course, 40 Under Forty is just one component of what promises to be a very exciting year of BusinessWest programs.

Indeed, the Difference Makers for 2020 have been chosen, and they will be profiled in the Feb. 3 edition of the magazine. In all, seven individuals and groups were chosen for the honor, making this a very large, diverse, and intriguing class of winners who will be celebrated on March 19 at the Log Cabin.

The 40 Under Forty event will follow in June, with Healthcare Heroes, which honors those in this region’s large and very important health and wellness field, slated for October, and the Women of Impact, now in its third year, in December.

Nominations for all of these programs are accepted year-round; the deadlines for the specific programs will be printed in BusinessWest.