David Begelfer, a 41-year commercial property veteran, built office and R&D space on Routes 128 and 495 as owner of The Iver Co. In the late '80s, he became active in NAIOP and volunteered as its president and chairman. When real estate crashed in '91, he fashioned a role for himself as the development trade organization's first full-time executive director, or as he's officially known, its CEO. A staff of one, it had 150 members and sponsored seven programs each year on an annual budget of $100k. Today, NAIOP has a six-person staff, 1,500 members, and sponsors 50 programs per year on a $2M budget.

It lobbies on real estate and economic issues, so it's paying attention as the city and state are adopting "fairly aggressive" climate change policies that will impact the booming Seaport District (above). Last month, Boston adopted a climate change checklist for new projects. David wants to be meeting with regulators to ensure that the new rules are practical, feasible and transparent, and to make sure that the public sector does its part to upgrade utilities, transportation, and communications. After all, would it make sense that during a storm, a weather-tight building might sit stranded in a flooded area without electricity?