SALMAN SYED
Booz Allen Hamilton
Associate
Age: 29

In his seven years with Booz Allen Hamilton, Salman Syed, an associate with the firm, has achieved quite a lot. Two recent examples were when he spearheaded the effort to redefine a client’s $9 billion IT business model and supported the integration of a newly formed U.S. government agency. It’s successes like these that have led to Syed being recognized for his efforts.

In 2007, he was awarded the firm’s prestigious Professional Excellence Award given to client teams in recognition of outstanding and innovative service on an assignment. Less than 1 percent of Booz Allen employees have received the award. “Booz Allen is such a great place to work,” he says. “This firm rewards hard work and recognizes the significant impact team members make with clients.”

Syed is quick to point out that it’s not about the recognition. He’s equally quick to recognize the role his managers and mentors have played in his development. “They’ve all contributed in different ways—either helping me learn new skills or seek out opportunities at the firm, or by just providing some worthwhile advice,” Syed says. “They’ve all helped to keep my career in perspective and allowed me to continue growing at the firm.”

They’ve also inspired him to pursue a similar role in the future as he continues to grow his career at Booz Allen. “I’d like to mentor new hires and help them succeed they way my mentors have helped me to succeed,” Syed says.

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MATT GOEBEL
Crowe Chizek
Technology Specialist
Age: 24

Matt Goebel’s only been at Crowe Chizek since graduating from Purdue University in 2005, but he’s already a leader among his peers. After realizing the firm’s new hire programs were falling short, he took on the project and now hopes to have his program implemented firm wide. “We had kind of a gap in our onboarding,” he says. “There was no program; there was no formal training or anything set up for them.”

Goebel’s a trailblazer when it comes to client work as well. He’s still with the manufacturing client he had when he started with the firm, but now has expanded his base to pharmaceuticals as well. His technical expertise landed him a management role six months into his employment, and Goebel is a go-to consultant for Smart applications. He also designed security programming for records management at a state justice department. But Goebel says he enjoys having such a diverse client roster. “I find it interesting more than anything because you get to learn so many industries as well as the people in those industries,” says Goebel.

“With strong interpersonal skills and technical understanding, Matt seeks to fully understand clients’ needs before developing solutions,” says colleague and nominator Mindy Herman. Perhaps that stems from Goebel’s consulting philosophy that “the client has all the answers, and it’s really just helping them [find them].”

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SHAUN REIN
China Market Research Group
Founder, Managing Director
Age: 29

Shaun Rein, founder and managing
director of China Market Research Group, says that “there’s so much business in China right now that it’s complete chaos. Some one has to be able to sort it all out.” And that’s precisely what Rein set out to do when he launched the firm in 2006 to serve mainly U.S. and European companies looking to expand in China. “Many companies make the mistake of not fundamentally understanding Chinese market conditions and consumer patterns before investing here,” Rein says. “We conduct customized, objective research to help companies make better decisions.”

Although the name suggests more research than consulting, Rein says that China Market Research Group is “a strategy consulting firm with 100 percent of revenue coming from billable hours.” The firm does not sell off-the-shelf reports, but only conducts custom research for clients. “Our main competitors here are McKinsey and Bain,” he says.

Rein was born in New Hampshire and earned his MBA from Harvard where his studies focused on China’s economy before relocating there in the mid-1990s. Before launching the firm, Rein served as the chief of research for venture capital firm Inter-Asia Venture Management. He also was the managing director, country head China for e-learning software company WebCT. Rein, who writes a regular column for BusinessWeek, says the firm has been in an upward climb, twice having to relocate to bigger offices and has plans to add new offices in Vietnam and Dubai. China Market Research Group currently has 13 billable consultants and expects revenue to grow “300 to 400 percent in 2008” compared to last year, Rein said.