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www.wbjournal.com • Worcester Business Journal 11 25 YEARS: IMPACTFUL PEOPLE Celebrating 140 years of academic excellence... and Congratulating Worcester Business Journal on 25 years! Worcester State University is ranked a "Best Value" college by the Princeton Review and it's the only Massachusetts State University to earn a "Best in the Northeast" for 10 consecutive years. With over 50 undergraduate and graduate academic programs, explore how an excellent college education is within your reach at Worcester State University. www.worcester.edu ▲ P. Kevin Condron was born and raised outside the Bay State. But after join- ing and running his family's plumbing wholesale business, he began a long run as one of Worcester's impactful leaders. Condron has chaired three of the city's most powerful business and eco- nomic-development organizations: the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce; the Worcester Business Development Corp.; and, in its Medical City land-taking heyday, the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. He had his hand steadily on the wheel of major projects in the city's downtown: the DCU Center's convention facility, Union Station and Worcester Medical Center. Serving organizations and causes with a wide impact, Condron is a director of The Hanover Insurance Group, TD Banknorth, Catholic Charities, and board chair at the College of the Holy Cross, his alma mater. Today, his day job is that of chairman and CEO of the $160-million Granite Group. He and his father-in-law bought the firm in 1971, when it was called Central Supply, based in Worcester, and was grossing about $2 million annually. n P. KEVIN CONDRON A s president and CEO of the $450-million Polar Beverages, and — with his family — owner of Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton and a nearby hotel, Ralph Crowley Jr. wields a lot of influence in the region. In 1992, he became the fourth generation of Crowleys to run privately-held Polar. Under his leadership, Polar has achieved record growth and employs about 1,400 people, most of them in Central Massachusetts. He's a onetime recipient of the Worcester Business Journal's Business Leader of the Year award, and he and his family members were honored in 2010 with the Worcester Historical Museum's annual Harvey Ball Smile Award. Crowley and retired Telegram & Gazette editor Harry Whitin were touted as possible local buyers of the T&G when the New York Times Co. first put it and The Boston Globe up for sale. But they exited as possible contenders earlier this year before Red Sox principal owner John Henry — who bought both proper- ties last year — flipped the T&G to Florida-based Halifax Media. n RALPH CROWLEY JR. >> Continued on Page 12