Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | July 9, 2018 | wbjournal.com P O W E R 5 0 M A N U F A C T U R I N G CHRIS COGHLIN PRESIDENT & CEO COGHLIN COS., WESTBOROUGH & WORCESTER Residence: Shrewsbury College: Northeastern University D'Amore-McKim School of Business As head of both Columbia Tech in Westborough and Cogmedix in Worcester, Coghlin is in charge of nearly 600 employees making products for both the capital equipment and medical device markets. As both chief executive officer and chief experience of- ficer of their 133-year-old parent company, Coghlin's primary focus is on improving the employee culture and strengthening the leadership team in order to better serve existing clients and attract new ones. He also works to foster new manufacturing companies as a volunteer at the Worcester Clean Tech Incuba- tor and stays involved in the community as a board member of the United Way of Central Massachusetts and the 15-40 Connection. What advice would you give up-and-comers? It is so important to gain exposure to as many different things as possible early on in your career and life. We all need to find our inner passion and determine how to apply that passion and innate skills to a profession- al career where we can earn, support, thrive, and give back to our community. Music & food: I played guitar in the cover band Probable Cause for 27 years. I also love french fries! VALENTIN P. GAPONTSEV, Ph.D. CHAIRMAN & CEO IPG PHOTONICS CORP., OXFORD Colleges: Lvov Polytechnic Institute, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Gapontsev founded IPG Photonics in 1990 and has since created more than 1,500 jobs in Worcester County, and hundreds more could be on the way, as the company is eyeing expansion projects at its Oxford headquarters and Marlborough location. Globally, the company employs more than 5,500 people and finished 2017 with a company record $1.4 billion in revenue. According to Forbes, Gapontsev is one of the wealthiest manufacturers in the country with a net worth of $3 billion. In March, the company was added to the S&P 500 Index, moving from the S&P MidCap 400. e company sponsors internships and other programs at regional high schools to help grow the local manufacturing workforce and funds local food banks and provides equipment to the Oxford police and fire departments. What advice would you give up-and-comers? I have always followed the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, driving me to develop high-power fiber laser technology and then invest in our vertical integration strategy, both of which ran against conventional wisdom at the time. Angler: I love to fish. JEANNIE HEBERT PRESIDENT & CEO BLACKSTONE VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, WHITINSVILLE Residence: Shrewsbury Colleges: Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, Tufts University, Bryant University Little goes on in the Blackstone Valley business community without Hebert's knowledge and – usually – involvement. Lately, her efforts have centered around helping the region's manufacturers narrow their skills gap and hire the workers needed to maintain their productivity. Hebert leads the new collaboration project Blackstone Valley Education Hub to build out a workforce training center at the chamber and help the 650+ students each year who are waitlisted for vocational schools get the training they desire. Last year, aer persistent advocacy from Hebert, Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester agreed to open an internet learning cafe in Whitinsville, with an eye toward eventually putting a satellite campus in the Blackstone Valley. What advice would you give up-and-comers? Find your niche, follow your desire and your work will be rewarding, even if it is hard, and it probably will be. Animal planet: I helped care and find homes for four abused elephants. I still keep track of them and visit my favorite – Willie, the largest working African elephant in North America – at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. He has a son, Jabali. MICHAEL MAHONEY PRESIDENT, CHAIRMAN & CEO BOSTON SCIENTIFIC, MARLBOROUGH Colleges: University of Iowa, Wake Forest University Mahoney, leading Boston Scientific since 2012, has overseen the company's transformation into an industry giant, including helping the firm out of a net-loss position it held for three straight years, finishing with $104 million in profit in 2017. Net sales have increased under Mahoney, rising from $7.1 billion in 2013 to $9 billion in 2017, contributing to doubling the Boston Scientific stock price. Since Mahoney took over, the company's valuation skyrocketed from $8 billion at the end of 2012 to $44 billion as of June 26. Boston Scientific continues to gobble up smaller companies, and could spend up about $1 billion on 2018 acquisitions alone if its agreements pay out to the fullest extent. Last month, Mahoney was named the second most popular U.S. CEO by workplace review website Glassdoor. Ninety-nine percent of Boston Scientific employees said they approve of Mahoney's leadership, the company earned 4 out of 5 stars on the website, and 81 percent said they'd recommend the company to a friend. Last year, Mahoney ranked third on the same list. DANIEL MCGAHN PRESIDENT & CEO AMSC, AYER College: Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGahn has taken the company once called American Superconductor through an international crisis and nearly brought it out clean on the other side. He first joined the company as vice president for corporate development in 2006 and eventually ascended to the CEO chair in 2011, aer the company said Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Sinovel stole its trade secrets. AMSC lost more than $1 billion in market capitalization and 70 percent of its workforce as McGahn struggled to keep it afloat. In 2013, Sinovel executives were indicted in the scheme and found guilty this January. AMSC continues to recover and sold its Devens headquarters for $23 million to move to a 90,000-square-foot building in Ayer. McGahn has seen the AMSC stock price slowly rise and has reduced its net annual loss by half since losing $66 million in 2012, with the help of deals like developing the electrical control system for a 2.5-gigawatt offshore wind project in South Korea. McGahn has praised the Trump Administration's aggressive stance toward China trade relations, telling NPR, "is is the first time there are consequences ascribed to the Chinese behavior." NOBUHIKO TAMURA CHAIRMAN & CEO SUNOVION PHARMACEUTICALS INC., MARLBOROUGH Colleges: Tohoku University, Tokyo University of Science. Tamura and the Marlborough-based drugmaker are big players in the state's growing life sciences industry, especially in Central Massachusetts, by developing drugs to treat Parkinson's disease, depression, schizophrenia and lung disease. e 603-employee company is part of efforts working with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the 495 MetroWest Partnership in expanding economic development to help boost the region as a key player in healthcare manufacturing. Sunovion and Tamura are active in community building through its Hands On! program in which employees volunteer their time for community service to help support MetroWest area youth. e program has reached more than 23,000 employee volunteer hours since its inception in 2012. First pitch: Sunovion is a partner of the Boston Red Sox, and we have contributed to the Red Sox Foundation, which benefits many organizations throughout the region and State. During the Sunovion Day at Fenway last year, I was able to throw out the first pitch and present a donation to the foundation. I really enjoyed this, and am looking forward to doing this again at the next event this summer.

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