Get ready to meet 40 remarkable young people who live, work and play side-by-side with all of us in Michigan’s Great Southwest. They are the 2019 Class of the Moody on the Market 40 Under 40, and you won’t believe some of the things they are doing with, for and among us on an everyday basis.
Tomorrow morning, Thursday, June 27th at 7:10am you’ll want to tune your radio to News Talk 94.9 WSJM Radio’s Taking the Lead with Ray Gustafson to hear who the winners of year two of this prestigious competition to find the best and brightest in the region. Some of the names will be instantly recognizable to you, but some will be new to your circle of friends. They all, however, have fascinating stories to tell and work every day to improve the quality of life for the entire community in Berrien, Cass and Van Buren Counties.
The future is bright with these top notch performers taking care of business and advancing the quality of life for the entire region.
Just as was the case in the inaugural Moody on the Market 40 Under 40 last year, there’s a tremendous display of talent moving through the ranks of local businesses, organizations and governmental units and/or creating new businesses of their own in the area.
The 40 Under 40 is designed to recognize the up-and-comers you should know – they’re the future executives and influencers to watch in our business community and beyond.
No matter the industry or sector, we asked for the opportunity to hear about individuals in the under-40 crowd that are making a difference at their workplaces, excelling in their current roles and making valuable contributions to their organizations. These individuals are decision makers and leaders in their organizations and have been able to excel at their workplace or in their field at a remarkably fast pace. The 40 Under 40 continues to set the tone for what is to come in Michigan’s Great Southwest.
The 40 Under 40 recognition has been a goal of mine since first establishing the electronic version of Moody on the Market with the website.
In fact, we tapped one of the inaugural winners, Dan Peat from Kinexus to Chair the selection committee and shepherd the nomination review process. He developed a strong committee to read, review and rate each nomination to arrive at 40 young leaders. That committee, for which we are eternally grateful, included Peat himself, Angie Seger, Jerry Price, Patrick Bakeman, Matt Davis, and myself, Pat Moody.
The online nominating process once again generated considerable interest and the committee’s work was seriously cut out for us. Nevertheless, the work was completed, winners were identified, notified and asked to respond to an online survey about themselves which has become their 40 Under 40 Biographical Profile, which you will be able to read tomorrow morning, Thursday, June 27th, 2019 beginning between 7:30am and 8am following the on air release of that news on the radio broadcast. Each winner’s photo is shared with the bio as well.
So who’s on the list? You’ll have to wait ’til morning to find that out on the air and online, but…here are a few fun facts that will give you a sneak peek:
- The women dominated by a two-to-one margin this year. Unlike last year when half of the winners were men and half were women, this year there are 27 women and 13 men.
- The youngest woman to make the list is 27 and the youngest man is 28.
- The average age of the men on the list is 33.8-years old.
- The average age of the women on the list is 33.2-years old.
- The average winner, as a result, is 33.5-years old.
- The top Superpowers they would like to have are understandable for busy people, the top choice was teleportation, followed by the ability to fly, time travel, and the ability to be in multiple places at the same time.
- 17 of the winners are native to the Tri-County area, while 11 were born elsewhere in Michigan, and 12 were born outside of Michigan but in the U.S., including three each from Texas and Indiana, and one each from Ohio, California, Massachusetts, Alabama, Virginia and New York.
- As far as current residency, the top home site is St. Joe followed closely by Benton Harbor, then Stevensville, Dowagiac and Paw Paw, but there are also winners from Buchanan, Galien, Covert, Berrien Springs, South Haven, Three Oaks, Eau Claire, Watervliet and Three Rivers.
- Industry sectors of all kinds are represented in the winner’s list from finance to manufacturing and health care, from government to education, from the non-profit ranks to the self-employed.
We are fortunate to have multiple underwriters who helped make the Moody on the Market 40 Under 40 campaign possible. They include the following key sponsors:
- Honor Credit Union
- Kinexus
- Wightman
Additionally, we had these supporting role sponsors:
- The Mason Jar Cafe
- Starks Family Funeral Homes & Cremation Service
- United Way of Southwest Michigan
Here’s the link you can follow to see the winners of the 2019 Class of the Moody on the Market 40 Under 40 beginning shortly after 7:30 on Thursday morning, June 27th, 2019 (or click the tab at the top of the page for 40 Under 40):
