We made it.
Nearly twenty years ago, when business editor Steve Bailey put out the first Globe 100, he wasn't sure he could get issue number one done, let alone see number 20.
Now Globe 100 comes out like clockwork. Not only in its glossy magazine format but also online at boston.com/globe100, where you'll find videos and interactive charts. Chalk it up to technology that has made it easier to produce the publication, but also to old-fashioned experience and elbow grease.
I've been business editor for just a year, but in that short time I've had the chance to meet executives from all kinds of firms. I've been impressed by the diversity, energy, and ingenuity that drives the Massachusetts economy. But two decades of ranking Massachusetts' top performing public companies teaches something else: Resiliency matters.
Just take a look at the five firms that have stayed on the list through booms and busts: financial firms Eaton Vance Corp. and State Street Corp.; defense contractor Raytheon Co., retailer TJX Cos., and uniform-service company UniFirst Corp.
The secret to success? "It's changing with changing tastes," TJX chief executive Carol Meyrowitz tells Globe reporter Robert Gavin.
There are many people to thank around the Globe who put out this year's Globe 100. A few stand out: deputy business editor Bennie DiNardo, the magazine's editor, art director Greg Klee, lead photographer Essdras M Suarez, and Boston.com's Joel E. Medina, Danielle Kost, and D.C. Denison.
Enjoy this edition of Globe 100. We hope we've shown that we're as resilient as the best of Massachusetts business. May the next 20 years be as exciting and inventive for all of us.
SHIRLEY LEUNG
