Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal • December 7, 2015 www.wbjournal.com P O W E R P L AY E R S: V I S I O N A R I E S << VISIONARIES: Forward thinkers pushing to realize the promises of the future A s lawmakers and officials seek to crack down on the snowballing opioid crisis that has claimed hundreds of lives in 2015, Spectrum Health Systems President and CEO Charles Faris has been an important voice for the sub- stance abuse treatment industry and the patient. Faris has an astute grasp on the ins and outs of financing treatment programs, including the insurance reimbursement conundrum that results in a shortage of inpatient treatment options. Spectrum, which had $51 million in revenues in fiscal 2014, has scaled up its outpatient detox centers in Central Massachusetts and beyond, in order to help people get off opi- ates safely. A outpatient center opened in Leominster this year, while Spectrum opened inpatient facilities in Westborough. The organization is exploring more sites in the North Central Massachusetts area. Under Faris' direction, Spectrum has placed a high priority on information technology to improve the qual- ity of care and is leading a federally-funded effort to rehabilitate convicts that are at high risk of reoffending upon leaving prison. — Emily Micucci Title: President & CEO Company: Spectrum Health Systems Location: Worcester Charles Faris R obert E. Johnson has taken his presidency at Becker College as an opportunity to both turn around a school that lacked a coherent direc- tion and in the process become one of the most engaged and dynamic college figures on the Greater Worcester community. "He has made himself relevant. He is not just sitting in an ivory tower and running the school. He is off the campus, in the community and engaged at many dif- ferent levels," said David Jordan, president and CEO of the Seven Hills Foundation, who sits on Becker's board. "(Collaboration) is both the right thing to do, and it's in the best interest of the university, and I think it's in his nature to want to do that." When Johnson became president of Becker in July 2010, he set about plotting a course that has trans- I nside Route 128, incubators for early-stage companies are numerous, but in MetroWest and Greater Worcester, the options are far more limited. But two local nonprofit leaders, Kevin O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives in Worcester, and Barbara Finer, CEO of TechSandBox in Hopkinton, have been pioneers on the incubation frontier and are leading ongoing efforts to increase resources to help local startups thrive. O'Sullivan heads up incubation for the biotech industry at Gateway Park facilities in Worcester, and he's looking toward what he believes is Worcester's biggest life sciences oppor- tunity: biomanufacturing. O'Sullivan pitched Worcester as an ideal hub for small-scale bio- manufacturing, showing Gov. Charlie Baker a Union Street building to possibly convert. Meanwhile, Finer opened TechSandBox two years ago to provide startup office space and professional development programs to people starting their own ventures in the technology sector. An incubator in the MetroWest tech cluster was something Finer had long envisioned, knowing that many industry professionals would prefer to skip the long commute to Boston if they had the resources. Today, TechSandBox is nestled in a Hopkinton office park near major technology companies, like EMC Corp. and is host to several tenants as well as a num- ber of popular events. — Emily Micucci Title: CEO Company: TechSandBox Location: Hopkinton Barbara Finer & Kevin O'Sullivan Title: President Company: Becker College Location: Worcester Robert E. Johnson formed the school into one with tech savvy pursuits such as the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute and soon a first-in-the-country Yunus Social Business Centre. Under Johnson's guidance, students are required to take four formative courses that end with a capstone, which provides a real-world application of their education. "It was really about redefining and refocusing the college on its strengths," Johnson said. "We rewrote the mission and created a set of core values and identi- fied senior leadership that could drive that value proposition and then involved the college and the community at large to help." All of this is a far cry from the Becker of the pre- Johnson era, said Jordan, who stepped down from the college's board only to return at Johnson's request three years ago. Key to the transformation of the school has been Johnson's ability to envision an unfathomable goal and set up the proper people to pursue it, encouraging and building them up along the way, he said. "Robert came in when the institution was very troubled and established a vision," Jordon said. "Today Becker is one of the most innovative colleges and uni- versities in the city. He did that by ... pulling together other people to realize a vision of a yet unrealized future." It is this kind of collaboration has allowed so many positive projects and programs to move forward in Worcester, Johnson said, citing the ability of people from all areas of the community to find their passion and rally together under one project to make it a reality. "We are right on the tipping point of evolving into great things economically, I think, because of this type of collaboration and working together to get things done," Johnson said. "What's good for Worcester is good for Becker… They are very intertwined." Although Johnson is a high-level planner, it is the difference that these changes can make in the lives of individuals that ultimately drives him, he said. "When all is said and done, if it can be said Robert Johnson made a difference and transformed one life, then that is my passion," Johnson said. - Sam Bonacci Title: President & CEO Company: Massachusetts Biomedical Initiative Location: Worcester P H O T O / M A T T V O L P I N I

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