Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1519642
wbjournal.com | April 29, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 11 Your confidence to push boundaries and never settle for the status quo lifts Flexcon, its employees, and the community. Congratulations to the entire Power 100. www.flexcon.com We celebrate CEO Aimee Peacock as one of the Power 100. M A N U F A C T U R I N G & T E C H N O L O G Y P O W E R 1 0 0 Girish Navani CEO eClinicalWorks, in Westborough Employees: 1,488 Residence: Shrewsbury College: Gujarat University, Boston University Calling Central Massachusetts home to eClinicalWorks since 1999, Navani has steered the company to become a top U.S. healthcare technology firm always work- ing on the next frontier in cloud-based solutions for its physician clients. Projecting a record $900 million in revenue in 2023, the private company now serves more than 180,000 healthcare providers with its electronic health records platform, saving doctors and other healthcare providers time and effort on labori- ous data entry and helping organizations manage patient flow for efficiency. Now with 6,000 employees, India native Navani has the distinction of leading the largest minority-owned business in Central Massachusetts. Not only an innovator, Navani is something of a gatekeeper as eClinicalWorks and most other large technology companies move to incorporate artificial intelligence into their products, advocating for a measured approach making AI a tool, not an automated boss. AI has already shown itself to be transformative for health care, and Navani said eClinical's commitment to the technology is unwavering. e flagship achievement on this front is the introduction of an AI-powered EHR the company says enhances workflows, efficiency, and patient experience. It uses machine learning, generative and image AI, and robotic process automation to do things like predict patient no shows and streamline check-in procedures. Other AI tools eClinicalWorks is using to make health care more efficient includes voice-recognition, which physicians can use to expedite documentation processes. Another is a ChatPGT-like model, which looks at decades worth of medical infor- mation about a patient to provide a summary of their health history without a physi- cian having to individually read each page of the patient's medical records. - E.M. Mike O'Kronley CEO Ascend Elements, in Westborough and Novi, Michigan Employees: 400 Residence: Westborough College: University of Michigan Ascend Elements, once a Worcester green technology startup that in the last two years has grown its workforce 500%, appears unstoppable as a leader in recycling elements of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. O'Kronley was raised in the auto industry hub of Detroit and started his career in that sector. With an engineering background, he recognized how crucial lithium-ion batteries would be in the future of automobiles, and pivoted to work in strategy for a large battery manufacturer. Eventually, he'd invest in Ascend, which was then Battery Resourcers, and become CEO in 2020. On April 9, O'Kronley announced the effort to move Ascend to its second conti- nent, partnering with Elemental Strategic Metals of Poland to build two EV battery material extraction facilities in Germany and Poland, due to come online in 2026. ese facilities are in addition to the $1-billion manufacturing facility the company is constructing in Kentucky, where Ascend is planning a secondary $65-million facility with partner SK ecoplant of South Korea. Ascend has raised more than $704 million in equity investments in the last 12 months, including a $542 million funding round in September. Meanwhile, Ascend has outgrown its U.S. corporate headquarters and R&D facility in Westborough, and plans to move operations about 30 miles northwest to Devens in September. Founded at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2015, Ascend had just 11 employees in 2021. In addition to Massachusetts operations, Ascend operates manufacturing and production facilities in Georgia, Michigan, and soon, Kentucky, employing 400. Named a Top 10 GreenTech Company of 2024 by TIME Magazine, Ascend aims for a 90% carbon footprint reduction in its EV battery material by 2030. - E.M.