As the recession began to bite, Douglas Caldwell, chairman of Caldwell Partners International Inc. and founder of the Canada's Top 40 Under 40 awards, thought it would be hard to find enough people who could "cut the mustard."
"I thought we'd have a hard time finding 40 people who turned in outstanding results. In fact, we found it's an outstanding group of young people," Mr. Caldwell said.
He also noted that this year, more than in the past, the key trend was toward businesses that were focused on "back-to-basics," rather than the high-tech success stories of the past.
Established in 1995, Canada's Top 40 Under 40 celebrates the achievements of Canadians in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors who were under the age of 40 by Dec. 31, 2008. The 26 members of an independent advisory board choose the honorees from about 1,200 nominees through a selection process based on five criteria: vision and leadership; innovation and achievement; impact; growth and development strategy; and community involvement and contribution.
"What happened this year in particular is the solid, basic businesses were making things happen," Mr. Caldwell said. "These people on the front line are really focused on the client, the customer … and are not consumed by stock market performance."
This year, more nominees sprung from traditional businesses rather than "a lot of the software/hardware types of success stories that existed in the past," he said, adding they also found fewer "instant success stories."
"What's significant this year is people giving back to their communities," Mr. Caldwell said. "What we find is that often that can slip. … people get more focused on trying to survive, but what we've seen this year is people with a strong commitment to their basic business but also to community service."
Canada's medical and scientific talent is "amazing," he added, and said they deserved more support. He also noted the contributions of "fairly recent immigrants."
Despite the economic turmoil, Mr. Caldwell is optimistic for the future. "These people are amazingly innovative and creative and conscientious and haven't been caught up in this meltdown," he said, adding, "These are young people with optimism, energy, and the temerity to say, 'we can make this work.' "
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