Welcome to the WBJ’s Business Profiles 2009

The latest business news stories of the day will tell you a lot about Central Massachusetts and the direction in which its business communities are going, but they won’t provide you with the names, faces or personal accounts of the companies that make up those communities. This fourth annual issue of Business Profiles aims to do just that.
As you flip through the following pages, you may discover several consistencies among the 41 businesses profiled.  For starters, many of the companies employed critical analysis of their industries — and of themselves — and constructed from that a business model and a collection of services that helped them to stand out from the crowd. You’ll likely also notice that many of the business leaders behind the following companies put significant emphasis on developing their employees, a trait that greatly improves productivity and success, especially in a troubled economy.
You also may recognize many familiar faces. That so many companies have returned to occupy a page in this sponsored issue is a testament to the belief that the details matter. For many consumers, knowing the people behind a business is just as important as understanding the services that business provides. As Publisher Peter Stanton said in his introduction to last year’s Business Profiles, “In Central Massachusetts, the mantra that relationships are the key to business has been a reality for a long, long time.”
In learning the stories of the following companies, we hope you’ll also discover new facts about the businesses that you already know. A local college willing to develop graduate programs tailored to individual students. A downtown hotel with a quiet outdoor courtyard and indoor/outdoor swimming pool. A private country club with a rare environmental distinction. These are just a few of the details that make this year’s collective of businesses noteworthy.
When it comes to the production of an issue such as this, there are many people to praise. The marketing team of Mary Lynn Bosiak, Bonnie Leroux, Kris Prosser, Kelly Marcimo and Jeanine Silun compiled the roster of diverse companies. Contributing writers Karen Cakebread, Brian Goslow, Taryn Plumb and Sara Withee brought each of those company’s stories to life. Photographer Edd Cote captured in photographs the unique (and sometimes quirky) personalities of the people behind each enterprise. And graphic designer Julie Jepsen took all of those raw materials and constructed a sharp and easy-to-read publication.
It is my hope that you find this issue both entertaining and useful. But more importantly than that, I hope the issue provides you with a greater knowledge of the individuals behind the companies that help to define and develop the business landscape of Central Massachusetts.

Shaun Tolson
Project Manager

Peter Stanton
Publisher

Below is a list of our 2009 participating companies:

Abigail Williams    
American Alarm    
Anna Maria College    
Art for Interiors    
Assumption College    
Atlantic Consultants    
Avidia Bank    
Bartholomew & Co.   
Beechwood Hotel    
Commerce Bank    
Courtyard by Marriott Marlborough/Westborough    
Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resorts    
Doubletree Hotel Boston/Westborough    
Dynamic Janitorial Cleaning Inc.    
Enterprise Cleaning Corp.    
ForeSite Technologies Inc.    
Glacial Energy    
GoodFellas Construction    
Guertin Trophy    
Hanover Theatre    
Harmon Home Health    
Higgins Armory    
JCSI    
Landscape Depot    
Marlborough Office Center   
MetroWest Partners    
New England Business Media    
Nichols College    
Penta Communications    
Phoenix Park    
Quinsigamond Community College    
RCAP Solutions    
ROCG    
Robert Fine & Associates    
Savers Bank    
Southbridge Credit Union    
Sprout    
Sterling National Country Club    
Turley Publications Inc.    
WICN    
Webster Five Cents Savings    

Click here to view our 2008 business profiles