Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | May 10, 2021 | wbjournal.com P O W E R 5 0 M O N E Y & I N F L U E N C E John C. "Jack" Roche PRESIDENT & CEO THE HANOVER INSURANCE GROUP, INC. IN WORCESTER Residence: Hopkinton College: University of Connecticut The head of the only public company headquartered in Worcester, with 4,300 worldwide employees and $359 mil- lion in 2020 profits, Roche sits in a considerable position. Roche uses that power to continue Hanover's tradition of revitalizing its hometown, which includes redeveloping properties in the downtown neighborhood, supporting the Hanover Theatre, and encouraging the Pawtucket Red Sox to move to Worcester by offering corporate sponsorship. In April, Forbes magazine named Hanover one of the best midsize employers to work for, making that list for the sixth consecutive year, and in February was one of 767 companies nationwide lauded for LGBTQ equality by the Washington, D.C. nonprofit Human Rights Campaign. In the wake of George Floyd's murder by Minnapolis police a year ago, Roche was one of a handful of outspoken Cen- tral Mass. business executives calling for greater efforts to fight institutional racism, and Hanover's response to the coronavirus pandemic has included more than $400,000 in grants to community organizations. What do you think the future holds for Central Mass.? "We've seen how our city, community and local business leaders can come together to strengthen and enhance our community. Whether it's our response to the pandem- ic, the downtown revitalization efforts or the addition of the Worcester Red Sox, I strongly believe Worcester is positioned for great progress in years to come." Paddleballer: "Over the last couple of years, I have jumped on the bandwagon and become a Pickleballer – great fun!" Eric Mosley CO-FOUNDER & CEO WORKHUMAN, IN FRAMINGHAM Residence: Framingham College: Trinity College, in Dublin Very rare is the instance in which Central Mass. has a unicorn, a startup valued at $1 billion or more. But Workhuman reached that achievement in June when the company took on a London asset management firm as a major investor. Mosley has been along from the start. Workhuman, a maker of social recognition cloud platforms, got its start in Westborough in 1999 as Globoforce, and later moved to Southborough before expanding to Framingham. Mosley and his team found new opportunities during the coro- navirus pandemic when so many workers were forced to log in remotely. In the first half of 2020, Workhuman said more than 300,000 workers started using two of its cloud products: an employee peer-to-peer recognition system, and another meant to help employees celebrate life milestones with each other. The company's now grown to more than 200 workers across Mass. and more than 700 in all, with customers like Moderna, Procter & Gamble, JetBlue and LinkedIn. Mosley is outspoken in his belief in the power of empowering workers, including in pieces he writes as a contributor to outlets including Forbes, Fast Company and the Harvard Business Review. What do you think the future holds for Central Mass.? "Cen- tral Massachusetts is an up and coming area that is prime to support fast-growing companies like Workhuman ... we're look- ing forward to sharing this special area with future innovators." Music man: "Music is very precious in my life. I love all the classics – Jimi Hendrix, Prince, Simon & Garfunkel and John Lennon." AiVi Nguyen PARTNER BOWDITCH & DEWEY, LLP, IN WORCESTER Residence: Worcester Colleges: University of Pennsylvania, Boston College Law School If one was tasked with naming a woman with her finger on the pulse of the Worcester business community, there's a good chance the first name to come to mind would be AiVi Nguyen. A partner at Bowditch, Nguyen prides herself in working at a company boasting not only top-notch legal services, but a dedication to its community. But Nguyen's influence exceeds her work at a high-profile Worcester law firm and into the nonprofit sector. She serves as a member of the board at the Ed- ward M. Kennedy Community Health Center in Worcester and will begin serving as its chair at the end of 2021. This follows her stints as board chair of the United Way of Central Massachusetts and as a board member at Quin- sigamond Community College. An outspoken proponent of intersectional equity, a dedicated lawyer, and active member of the nonprofit sector, Nguyen is as down-to- earth as she is a force to be reckoned with. What do you think the future holds for Central Mass.? "Everything. Pandemic quarantine took away the glamour of Boston living for a lot of people. Suddenly, everyone wants a yard and space. That coupled with the ballpark, and I think Central Massachusetts is positioned to contin- ue to grow and develop indefinitely." Side hustle: Nguyen is a bona fide social media fashion influencer. Mark O'Connell PRESIDENT & CEO AVIDIA BANK, IN HUDSON Residence: Hudson College: Salem State College Small employers in Central Massachusetts and far beyond needed federal financial help fast last year when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and no locally-based bank provided more Paycheck Protection Program funds than Hudson's Avidia Bank. Avidia, led by O'Connell, processed more than $1 billion in PPP loans through last summer, and its leadership and staff were among those in the banking industry who told of working nearly around the clock, often remotely, to help their commercial clients receive funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration program set up in the $2-trillion CARES Act of March 2020. Nothing can compare to the pandemic, but O'Connell, the bank's head since 2004, has seen Avidia through far more than that. He was the head of Hudson Savings Bank at the time it merged with Westborough Savings Bank to form Avidia in 2007. Today, Avidia has more than $2 billion in assets, compared to less than $950 million at the time of that merger. What do you think the future holds for Central Mass.? "Central Massachusetts has a bright future, with many people moving west from Boston. New businesses are coming to the community, and Central Massachusetts is experiencing a lot of growth." Off hours: O'Connell enjoys golf, travel, and has a home on Cape Cod.

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