There is something very powerful and uplifting when we surround ourselves with individuals who have vision, ambition, empathy and the energy we need to move forward in today's global community.

Thankfully there is no shortage of inspiring professionals in Greater Sudbury who are working and leading this community into the future.

Reading through this year's 40 under Forty winner profiles is actually a lesson in inspiration that should be shared with everyone we know. How lucky we are as a community to have the talent, tenacity, resourcefulness and passion that appear to be trademarks of this year's winners.

We witness these attributes in individuals many times in our daily lives, but we often do not stop to realize what we are witnessing or why it is imperative to our community to encourage and appreciate more of these attributes.

Greater Sudbury should be promoted as a community that encourages success, that rewards innovation and hard work, that understands quality of life is paramount to progress, that its citizens are valued, and its leaders are appreciated.

We need to say thank you to our young leaders who stayed here to build their futures, who came here to begin their futures, or who have moved back here to raise their families and contribute to the growth of this community.

We asked all of this year's winners what motivates them and their answers were as inspiring as they are themselves.

"The chance to be part of a team, looking to implement change for the sake of improvement…," says one winner.

"My greatest motivations are to provide the best quality of life for my family, to make my parents proud, and to fulfil my potential and not settle for 'good enough'," says another.

"I love a great discussion with a group that's working on a problem and we start to see possible solutions or get a glimpse of what could be," says a winner. "It's those glimpses of what this city could be that I find exciting, like we're on the verge of some great things."

How can we not be optimistic about our future when our young leaders think like this year's winners do? We are fortunate.

Congratulations to the 2011 40 under Forty Award winners. We applaud your accomplishments and we are proud of your success.

Thank you to our loyal sponsors, this year's judges, nominators, attendees, our partners and our supporters and the staff at Northern Ontario Business who worked on this project with passion and pride.

A special thank you to this year's hosts, Kimberley Wahamaa from NOB and Cory McPhee from Vale, both of whom are inspiring leaders in their own right.