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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Searching for the Youngest and Brightest

One of my favorite Business Journal special reports is coming up in our Jan. 22 issue. It’s 40 Under 40. This is where we search all over the Valley region for 40 exceptional businesspeople under the age of 40 who we know we’ll be writing about again and again and again over the years. This is the fourth year we’ve done this (a Business Journal-sponsored event honoring the 40 we pick this year will be held on Jan. 17). I’ve been here the whole time we’ve done this and as a newspaper editor, finding young up-and-coming businesspeople is interesting and in a selfish sense very helpful to me. These are people who have fresh ideas and will be the leaders of tomorrow (some of them already are leaders). These are the people who are interesting to write about and have great new suggestions for stories we should be writing. These are the people who are leading are biggest and smallest companies in new fresh directions. We are currently accepting nominations from readers and others in the business community of people you want us to consider for our 40-40 this year. Response has been great so far. We’ve received several nominations. Thank you. But there’s time left to get some more in. Deadline is Fri., Dec. 22. Getting nominations from readers who work in our Valley companies and who know the movers and shakers is always better than our editorial staff cold-calling businesses and organizations to ask if there are any outstanding young people that we may be missing. What are we looking for in 40 Under 40 winners? They must be full-time working professionals and spend at least 90 percent of their time in our greater Valley region which includes the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Conejo and Antelope Valleys. Other things we’ll consider: Are they moving up quickly in their professions? Do they hold a significant management position and look as though they’ll be moving up even higher? How significantly are they contributing to their professions? What is their community involvement? We’re looking for well-rounded individuals who contribute to their community and don’t just make money! Do older people look up to these younger businesspeople? How do these younger people relate to older people in the business community? We don’t want all our 40 people to just be traditional soldiers who immediately sign up with the status quo and don’t rock the boat. We’re looking for people with original and innovative ideas both for their industries and the community as a whole. I know every one of our readers knows at least one businessperson under 40 years of age that is worthy to be profiled in our paper as someone who is going places and doing things. Please let us know about these people. Go to our website at sfvbj.com and pull down a nomination form in our “events” section on the site. Or just call me up at (818) 316-3125 or e-mail me at [email protected]. Reporter Chris Coates is heading up this project on our staff so you can contact him, too. He’s at (818) 316-3124 or at [email protected]. Looking forward to profiling our 40 Under 40 this year. Thanks in advance for any help you can give us in finding the right people. Business Journal Editor Jason Schaff can be reached at (818) 316-3125 or at [email protected].

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