Chris Wells, CEO of LaVigne Inc. - who is 33 - is one of the next generation. He heads up LaVigne, founded in 1898 and located in Worcester MA. LaVigne has about 100 employees in two divisions: traditional offset and digital printing.

WTT: You were promoted to CEO in 2000 at the tender age of 30. And you were the first CEO from "outside" in a business that had been owned and run by the same family for more than a century. Did you wake up the next day and ask yourself "How the heck did I get HERE?"

CW: It seemed sudden but it was really a smooth transition. I was a consultant working with LaVigne management to help plan a generational transition and to lay the groundwork to move the company to a new future. They were already looking to bring in management from outside the industry.