Youthful, yes, but ‘40U40’ winners are so much more

Every year, the winners of Providence Business News’ 40 Under Forty competition keep getting younger, or so it seems (age is all relative, right?), although the winner celebrated right next to this letter, Brokers’ Service Marketing Group’s Jason Lea, does look a little young to be an honoree!
But it’s not the youth of the Class of 2013 40 Under Forty winners that is the distinguishing mark. That’s a given.
Still, each class does seem to have a certain character. For instance, last year’s honorees showed an entrepreneurial bent – one-quarter of them were running enterprises they had started. This year, only four of our winners qualify on those grounds. Rather, it is the talent, determination and ambition of this group – and Rhode Island by extension – that marks them for success.
They are spread out among many sectors of the state’s economy, including a number of areas that are expected to grow in the future – health care, education and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), as well as old standbys financial services and law.
The change we made last year in our photographs for the section reveal more about the winners as well, with many of them highlighting their families, their physical activities or their nonprofit involvement. In each case, the images paint a fuller picture, revealing just how much beyond the workplace our honorees live, and in most cases, how much better off the Ocean State is because of that.
So, once again, let us raise a glass to the toast of Rhode Island, the 2013 class of PBN’s 40 Under Forty. In very tangible ways, we all benefit from their success.
Partner sponsors of this year’s program are Bryant University, Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick Ltd. and Cox Business. Host sponsor is the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the media sponsor is AM790.

Mark S. Murphy
Editor

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