Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | August 20, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 29 4 0 U N D E R F O R T Y F O C U S Congratulations to Bert LaValley and to all the other 40 Under Forty honorees! 146 MAIN STREET • SUITE 301 • WORCESTER, MA 01608 (508) 713-6680 • WWW.GREENRATER.COM INFO@GREENRATER.COM • TWITTER @SCIGREENRATER Helping People Build Better Gjylapi has grown her professional career from her early days in the financial industry as a personal banker in 2003 to now, where she is part of the senior leadership team in business banking at Santander. Prior to joining the bank in 2017, she worked for Unibank for Savings for five years as assistant vice president and credit and loan review officer. Before that, Gjylapi was a commercial credit analyst for Clinton Savings Bank and worked her way up the ranks of Avidia Bank from assistant branch manager to branch manager and then junior credit analyst. In her current job managing credit practices and quality control, the quality assurance rating and level of undetected policy exceptions have improved significantly bank-wide in less than a year. In addition to managing the finances of Central Massachusetts businesses, Gjylapi has made her mark in several nonprofits, including as a director and chair of the finance committee of Worcester Common Ground and the same roles in Clinton- based Growing Places, Inc. She regularly supports United Way of Central Mass. both financially and with volunteering and is a member of the American Economic Association. – Z.C. From judge Michael Arnum: "Alvara's banking acumen and community involvement have truly made a difference." What TV character is most like you? Violet Crawley in "Downton Abbey" because she is smart, sassy, and always there for her family. But she won't stand for any of their nonsense (just like me). Whose career would you most like to emulate? Not to emulate, I couldn't be that prodigious, but I grew up idolizing Marie Curie because of her passion for science and her contributions to society. Alvara Gjylapi, 39 Senior vice president and credit practices manager Santander Bank, Worcester & Boston Lives: Worcester Birthplace: Korce, Albania Colleges: Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Assumption College, Worcester State University When he was a toddler, LaValley built an elaborate system of levees, dams and canals in his family's driveway to manage stormwater runoff properly. By the time he co-founded Sustainable Comfort in 2014, energy efficiency had long been in his blood. At Sustainable Comfort, he and his team rehab 100-year-old triple-deckers around Worcester to make them viable for working-class people. Since its founding, the company has grown an average of 65 percent annually and now employs more than 30. Firmly bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, LaValley partnered with chef Jared Forman and drinks connoisseur Sean Woods to launch the downtown Worcester restaurant deadhorse hill in 2016, followed by simjang in 2018. Because of his experience founding a business and dealing with administrative and regulatory issues, LaValley's title – paperwork – at the restaurant reflects his behind- the-scenes role. Through simjang and deadhorse hill, LaValley is involved in the public mural program POW! WOW! Worcester, feeding the artists who graffiti the city's outdoor walls. LaValley volunteers with the Seven Hills Foundation in Worcester and the children's museum EcoTarium. – B.K. From judge Milka Njoroge: "Bert is an entrepreneur who loves Worcester's rich history and has invested in the betterment of the city and the community." What will the inscription say on the statute they build of you? I would really like the statue to have a full, thick head of hair, which technically means it wouldn't be a statue of me. Were you a straight-A student? No. Fortunately most of the exams at WPI are graded on a curve, which always reminded me of the joke about when you are running away from a bear, you only need to run faster than your friend. Bert LaValley, 33 President; paperwork Sustainable Comfort, Inc.; deadhorse hill & simjang restaurants, Worcester Lives: Worcester Birthplace: Portland, Maine College: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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