Last month I had the opportunity to attend the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 16th annual 40 Under 40 honoree bash in support of Larry Nguyen, CEO of Summit Imaging and client of Communiqué PR. This year, Larry joined the ranks of Seattle’s young business superstars honored for their business leadership and contributions to the community.
The event was held at the Showbox SODO where more than 300 attendees were treated to the emcee-stylings of Publisher Gordon Prouty—whom we learned is a fan of funny hats and prefers his cocktails to be of the Manhattan variety—and Digital Managing Editor Emily Parkhurst, who generously spent her birthday conducting brief interviews with honorees rather doing whatever it is she would usually do on a birthday. For me, that would be diving into a pint of ice cream and enjoying a deep muscle massage, but I digress.
Given the abundance of technology companies in our community, I expected a tech-centric list of candidates, but was pleasantly surprised to see a number of honorees from other industries. There were, of course, a number of highly-deserving individuals from technology companies, and in many of these cases it was inspiring to see technology—both high and low—being used to make significant improvements in the lives of people around the world.
I won’t give a full list of all of the individual honorees and their accomplishments, but I do want to call out a few who were unexpected or whose stories I found particularly inspiring. Here it goes!
Dr. Quinton Morris, Seattle University. I’ll admit it—I’m a sucker for the arts, and this honoree is artistic director and programs coach for Chamber Music Madness, an organization aimed at empowering young people through one of my very favorite things: music. He also is responsible for bringing music back to Seattle University after a painful 25-year musical drought.
Ty Redinger, president of Lil’ Kickers. Redinger struck me as being incredibly genuine and good natured, and no wonder! He works with kids! Lil’ Kickers is a child development program that uses soccer classes and coaching to enhance a child’s overall growth and well-being. The organization has more than 237,000 children enrolled nationwide.
A new personal hero, Carrie Ferrence, CEO & co-founder of Stockbox Neighborhood Grocery. Ferrence’s team at Stockbox brings fresh produce and other nutritious foods to low-income or sparsely populated areas that are otherwise ignored by large grocery store chains.
As the proud daughter of a veteran, I was particularly interested to learn about Kameka Brown, nurse practitioner director for the Center of Excellence in Primary Care Education with VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Long story short—Brown serves the men and women who serve our country by creating systems to improve accessibility to healthcare for veterans.
Speaking of people helping people, Brian Glaister, CEO at Cadence Biomedical, is driven to return mobility to stroke victims. He told a touching story about a customer in San Francisco who lived at the bottom of a very steep hill and whose life essentially ended at his front door. Thanks to Cadence’s Kickstart Walking System, a rehabilitation technology that helps people recover from neurological conditions, the customer was quickly up and moving again.
There were so many others honored that evening—34 to be exact—and while I would love to congratulate them all personally, it’s much quicker for me to simply direct you to the list via this convenient link. For more about why these select few have earned entry into the exclusive “40” alumni club, visit Puget Sound Business Journal online for many interesting stories curated by assistant managing editor Becky Monk.