Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/469117
8 Worcester Business Journal • www.wbjournal.com 25 YEARS: IMPACTFUL PEOPLE major players The Central Massachusetts business scene has been filled with people who have made a difference over the last quarter of a century. Here are 25 who have stood out. n WILLIAM AUBUCHON III A ubuchon Hardware has the distinction of being the oldest family-owned and family-managed chain of hardware stores in the United States. A huge share of that legacy belongs to William "Bill" Aubuchon III, who was CEO until his retirement in 2011. He served 40 years in the business, making a big impact as a member of the third generation of Aubuchons to lead it. Aubuchon Hardware was founded more than 100 years ago in Fitchburg by a 23-year- old French-Canadian immigrant with a fifth-grade education. Today, it has grown to include 125 stores in New England and upstate New York, plus HardwareStore.com, giving the company an online presence. Company leaders regard the communities they serve as family. In 2008, to celebrate its centennial, Aubuchon Hardware, under Bill's leadership, started the Aubuchon Foundation to help support local charities. n JOHN BASSETT S ince 2009, John Bassett has been a scholar, author, professor of American lit- erature and the second president at Heritage University in Washington State. For 10 years before that, though, he provided dynamic leadership as president of Clark University. During that tenure, he introduced significant improvements to academic quality, campus infrastructure, fundraising and strategic planning. Those included making upgrades in technology and alumni programs, recruit- ing 83 new faculty, surpassing a $100-million capital campaign goal by $6 mil- lion, building a new science facility and renovating other key buildings. But it was his community involvement that caused Bassett to be regarded as an impactful leader in Worcester, a place where town-gown relations are some- times strained. Among other things, he oversaw Clark's partnership with the innovative University Park Campus School, a small, urban public school (Grades 7 through 12) that's recognized as one of the 100 best public high schools in the country. More than 99 percent of UPCS graduates have passed Massachusetts' rigorous MCAS exam and more than 95 percent go on to attend college, nearly all of them as first-generation college students. BY STEVEN JONES D'AGOSTINO AND SuSAN WAGNEr Special to the Worcester Business Journal