Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal • 2 022 Economic Forecast 3 Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com Senior Staff Writer, Monica Benevides, mbenevides@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing, diversity & inclusion) Staff Writers Katherine Hamilton khamilton@wbjournal.com (Real estate, higher education) Sloane M. Perron perron@wbjournal.com (Banking & finance, health care) Contributors Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon Photgraphers Matt Wright, Edd Cote Lead Researcher, Timothy Doyle, tdoyle@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin, hmartin@nebusinessmedia.com Production Director, Kira Beaudoin, kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com Art Director, Mitchell Hayes, mhayes@wbjournal.com Senior Accounts Manager Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com Senior Special Accounts Manager Mary Lynn Bosiak, mlbosiak@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com COO, Mary Rogers, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers, rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Account Receivable Specialist, Patty Harris, pharris@nebusinessmedia.com Human Resources, Jill Coran, jcoran@nebusinessmedia.com Director of Audience Development, Valerie Clark, vclark@nebusinessmedia.com Operations Assistant, Leah Allen, lallen@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com President, Tom Curtin tcurtin@hartfordbusinessjournal.com Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weekly, 24x per year, including 4 special issues in May, September, October, and December by New England Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Worcester Business Journal, PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $72.00. For more information, please email wbjournal@cambeywest.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Fax: 845.267.3478 Advertising: For advertising information, please call Mark Murray at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860. Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. Worcester Business Journal 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 508-755-8004 tel. • 508-755-8860 fax www.wbjournal.com Worcester Business Journal WBJ T he photo would have been perfect. Before he took his official event portrait at WBJ's 40 Under Forty event in September, honoree Aaron Birt asked me to take an impromptu photo with him. He had just danced and strutted his way down the red carpet, as 38 other winners had done before him. Once he got on stage at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, he wanted to recreate the leaping running man photo he took that summer for the WBJ magazine, during a high-energy shoot with a handful of his fellow winners. At the event, Aaron and I stood briefly on opposite sides of the stage, ran at each other, leapt into the air, and smiled for the crowd when a flash popped as we reached the midpoint of our jumps. at 40 Under Forty was WBJ's return to in-person events aer more than 18 months off. 40 Under Forty is normally a big party anyway, but every person I met that evening was particularly joyful, feeling the exhilaration of being back together. Maybe, just maybe (but not really, it turned out) COVID was in the rearview. When the crowd laughed as Aaron and I jumped, a year and a half of pent-up emotions radiated out of me. All the 40 Under Forty winners are special people, but Aaron Birt and his business partner Sean Kelly were among the standouts this year. While both were PhD students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, they founded Solvus Global, a technology solutions provider for the manufacturing industry. In three years, Solvus had secured a research deal with Oxford laser manufac- turer IPG Photonics, grown to $5 million in My favorite businessperson of 2021 A division of: W I N T H I S I S S U E TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Survey: WBJ readers look ahead to 2022 ........................... 5-7 List toppers from 2021 ........................................................ 8 Column: Investing in youth employment beyond summer ...... 9 Column: Stop making New Year's resolutions. Start doing this! ................................................................... 10 Column: The Worcester renaissance .................................... 11 WBJ Editorial Staff's predictions for 2022 ....................... 13 Revisiting WBJ's 2021 predictions ................................... 14 Major trends for key industries in 2021 • Real estate ................................................................... 16 • Manufacturing ............................................................. 18 • Health care .................................................................. 22 • Higher education ......................................................... 26 • Diversity, equity & inclusion ....................................... 30 • Banking & finance ....................................................... 32 • Biotech......................................................................... 35 Aaron Birt, Solvus Global .................................................................. 3 Russ Haims, Hampton Properties .................................................... 16 David Moore, Worcester Ballpark Commission ................................ 16 Leah Bradley, Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance ................... 16 Laury Lucien, Major Bloom ............................................................. 18 Jeannie Hebert, Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce .............. 18 Ryan MacKay, Lilac Hedge Farm ..................................................... 18 Mary Hsieh, Mass Advantage .......................................................... 22 Greg Mirhej, Harrington Healthcare System .................................... 22 Dr. Jessica Simons, UMass Memorial Health .................................. 22 Vincent Rougeau, College of the Holy Cross ................................... 26 Paul Cotnoir, Clark University .......................................................... 26 Kathy Rentsch, Quinsigamond Community College ......................... 26 Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham, Promoting Good ................................... 30 Grace Moreno, Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce .......... 30 Jean Beaupre, Nichols College ....................................................... 30 Thomas Bartholomew, Bartholomew & Co. .................................... 32 Tina Sbrega, Lighthouse Biz Solutions ............................................ 32 Derek Canton, paerpay ................................................................... 32 Jon Weaver, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives .......................... 35 Matt Zicaro, Galaxy Life Sciences ................................................... 35 Luis Pedraja, Quinsigamond Community College ............................ 35 22 people to meet in 2022 annual revenue, and opened three locations. e opening for its latest Leominster loca- tion included the awarding of a $1.6-million state grant and was attended by dignitaries like Congressman Jim McGovern. Beyond his business success, Aaron is giving back to the community, helping to support the Central Mass. entrepreneurial ecosystem. Not bad for someone originally from Pennsylvania, who only came to the region for WPI. More than all this, Aaron is a fun guy to be around, with a big smile and a zest for life. He's the only person I've ever met who has realistic life goals of exploring outer space, visiting all seven continents, and scuba diving around the world. Much can be said about the next few years for the Central Mass. business com- munity, but with up-and-coming business- people like Aaron Birt, that future seems a little brighter. at's why he – along with 21 other professionals listed in the following pages – is a person you should meet in 2022. e only disappointment I had came aer the 40 Under Forty event. e photogra- pher told me her camera had glitched, and my photo with Aaron was never taken. I was crushed. at photo would have been perfect. – Brad Kane, editor PHOTO/ERIKA SIDOR Aaron Birt

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