By Peter S. Cohan WALL & MAIN
When I was growing up in Worcester, I had never even heard of North Brookfield. But in the last few years, I have learned of two interesting startups founded by natives of the 4,626-citizen Worcester County town. All I need is one more to reach the conclusion that North Brookfield as an entrepreneurial spawning ground is a trend.
The entrepreneur I met in September 2013 is Nicole Ledoux, a Harvard Business School graduate. Her husband, a former Babson College MBA student of mine, Rob Dalton, helped inspire her to start 88 Acres, a food company named after the North Brookfield farm where she grew up.
On Nov. 18, I interviewed Aaron Portnoy, who had moved to North Brookfield when he was a child. He helped start Exodus Intelligence in Austin, Texas, a consulting firm that fights so-called zero-day information security threats. Mr. Portnoy spoke at the Worcester Economic Club on Nov. 19.