Worcester Business Journal Special Editions

T he late Myles McDonough founded and ran FLEXcon as a classic hands-on, "can do" entrepreneur who constantly surprised his customers and employees by making the impossible possible. It's why the Worcester Historical Museum once celebrated him with its annual Harvey Ball Smile Award, honoring those whose goodwill has made a difference to Worcester. McDonough, who passed away in 2012, was born a few months before the historic stock market crash of 1929. Growing up during the Great Depression helped him discover and begin cultivating his entrepreneurial nature. In 1956, at the age of 27, McDonough founded FLEXcon as a "flexible converter" of plastic films. Under his guidance, the company grew from a two-person garage opera- tion in Spencer, producing plastic film laminates that were used on women's shoes and handbags. Today, it's a lead- ing manufacturer of pressure-sensitive film and adhesive products, has more than 1,000 employees worldwide and posts annual sales of $300 million. 14 Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com 25 YEARS: IMPACTFUL PEOPLE J ohn O'Brien, who ran Massachusetts' largest nonprofit health system for nearly 10 years until 2013, oversaw a number of projects during his tenure. He also led UMass Memorial Health Care through a period of tremendous, fundamental change. That included implementation of new technologies that led to reductions in mortalities for critical patients, hospital construction projects, expansion of services with new ambulatory facilities in Milford and Southborough and new physician practice sites, and a 25-percent increase in medical staffing. Before coming to Worcester, he led Cambridge Health Alliance and served as that city's health commissioner. O'Brien's retirement from UMass Memorial came as the health system began to face a contraction and finan- cial challenges amid health care reform. Just months before his departure, for example, UMMHC cut about 140 jobs in an effort to close a budget gap. Since O'Brien left UMass Memorial, he has remained active in Central Massachusetts as a professor of higher education at Clark University. He called that appointment "an incredible honor." Clark President David P. Angel said O'Brien was "nationally respected" for his work at UMMHC. D avid "Duddie" Massad Jr. has come a long way since his bootstraps upbringing on Worcester's East Side. He began his business career at age 14 and has been a successful businessman, developer and entrepreneur for more than 60 years. In 1993, Massad purchased Commerce Bank, which has since increased its assets to $1.7 billion and has more than 250 employees. He chairs both the holding company, Commerce Bancshares Corp., and the bank, Commerce Bank & Trust Co. Massad made his business mark with three local car dealerships: Diamond Auto Group and Emerald Chevrolet Oldsmobile, both in Worcester; and Duddie Motors, originally in Westborough and now in Auburn. He also owns the largest Hertz franchise in Virginia Beach, Va., and is one of the largest commercial property owners in Central Massachusetts. Over the past decade, Massad has also made his mark as a philanthropist. In 2005, he donated $12.5 million for a new medical facility at UMass Memorial Health Care's Lake Avenue campus in Worcester, and both the emergency room and trauma center bear his name. Another big donation helped renovate the city-owned Foley Stadium on Chandler Street, which has since displayed Commerce Bank Field as part of its moniker. n DAVID MASSAD JR. O ver the past 14 years, Worcester native Charles Monahan, president of Boston-based MCPHS University, has been a significant force in downtown Worcester's revitalization. In 2012, MCPHS, the former Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, acquired a 3.5-acre property adjacent to its buildings at Lincoln Square — a complex formerly owned by Morgan Construction — for $2.9 million. That helped meet demand for on-campus housing. The school also purchased 29 condo- miniums at North High Gardens on Salisbury Street and leased 26 under- development micro-apartments on Main Street. In Worcester, MCPHS is often viewed as both a school and an economic-devel- opment catalyst. As a result, Monahan's influence may be unrivaled among lead- ers in local higher education. T im Murray, with six years as Worcester's mayor, followed by his higher-profile tenure as lieutenant gover- nor, put himself in an enviable position to wield political clout. In both roles, he was adept at leveraging his influence to address state and local issues, including bringing considerable state funding to Central Massachusetts for various public projects and programs. In his new role as president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce since June 2013, he's respon- sible for establishing the chamber as the economic-development catalyst for Greater Worcester. He's also tasked with growing chamber membership, which had dropped over the last decade from about 4,400 to around 2,500. In his first six months, Murray got right to work, leading a successful fund- raising campaign backed by the business community, which yielded $1.2 million. The campaign supports the chamber's strategic effort to recruit new businesses to the region, retain and develop a tal- ented workforce, and foster entrepre- neurial innovation in the region. n JOHN O'BRIEN n MYLES MCDONOUGH n CHARLES MONAHAN n TIMOTHY MURRAY

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