Posts Tagged ‘young professionals group’

What do your local businesses think?

December 18th, 2009

You probably know from previous posts, that I believe it’s important to support both “buy local” efforts and local entrepreneurship. The Miner County Cash Flow Study has been the most successful effort to support local buying in Miner County, SD to date.  The study involved high school students surveying county residents about their spending habits and then sharing the results with the public in an effort to help community members understand their impact on the local economy.  While reading this article in the Ames Tribune, I began to wonder if the tables couldn’t have been turned, with students surveying local entrepreneurs concerning how the community could support their businesses.

Titled “Chamber, AEDC, Young Professionals gear up for retail business survey,” the article describes a joint effort by the Ames Chamber of Commerce, Ames Economic Development Commission, and the Young Professionals of Ames to survey local entrepreneurs and business owners.

I like two aspects of the survey.  First, it appears that the community organizations really care about what small businesses think about their community.  Second, they are engaging the Young Professional Group in the effort. 

Whether it’s surveying local residents concerning spending habits or surveying local entrepreneurs for their thoughts on community issues, I’d advocate that small, rural communities should engage their high school students rather than hiring outside firms to do everything for them. In the long run, it will be more meaningful to everyone involved.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (2)

What am I supposed to do in this town?

June 22nd, 2009

If I came to your community, what would I do?
Even though I enjoy a drink with friends, I don’t feel like spending every night at the bar.  Where else can I go to socialize with people my age with my interests?  I don’t have any kids, so I can’t make friends with other parents from daycare.  There really aren’t any young people where I work, either.  Do you have any suggestions?

What would you say to these young professionals who are coming to you sans children or families?  It seems like small communities (those under pop. 3,000) spend all their time and resources trying to attract young families and keep its older members.   But, how many communities are thinking about those who are fresh out of high school or college?

Mike has posted before about Young Professional groups around the region, and I think they are incredible.  Many young people have come from a college town (population at least 5,000) and like the buzzing social scene where they can find thousands of like minded people in an instant.  These YP groups do for a community what a college does for its students: provide activities and resources for them to get together to make connections or help advance their career.

Help us get to know each other

I found an application for the Solomon Schechter Awards for Outreach to Young Adults from the Ahavath Achim Synagogue in Atlanta, GA.  They were facing a withdrawal of young adults (age 20-35) without families.  Sound familiar?

a woman stands against a porch that she helped build while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity

a woman stands against a porch that she helped build while volunteering for Habitat for Humanity

They made an active decision to reach out with specific events tailored to people aged 20-35.  They started with a Habitat for Humanity project that drew about 60 people; the basis for their e-mailing list.  That lead to a monthly “parlor – type discussion” in a rabbi’s home, a monthly contemporary service at 7:30pm with appetizers and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, trips to concerts, and other purely social parties.  They now have an e-mailing list of 600 and the monthly events are attended by 100-200 people.

Sure, Atlanta is a big city, but don’t put down what they accomplished.  This congregation had over 900 members, just like a lot of our small towns.  A whole community could be a model after this congregation.  They can modify the synagogue’s events and tailor their own to help bring back the young people.

Invite us in

We probably will not invite ourselves to serve on your city council, nor invite ourselves into an already made community like a congregation.  Instead, invite us to volunteer at the church, school or other function.  If we say yes, you have another volunteer who feels needed.  And if we say no, you have at least invited us into your circle.  The more you help us connect to other people, the more willing we will be to stay.  If small towns do not start projecting their want for young ideas and young involvement, they will continue their history of decline.  What image is your town projecting?

Photo credit: Susan Lloyd Image - flickr

For an interesting article about “the quarter life quandry” and how some towns are keeping young people involved, check out Facing a Midlife Crisis … at 25.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Community Engagement, Gen Y, Rural Life | Comments (0)

Young Energetic People have got it going on

February 27th, 2009

Our posts about Young Professional networks (here and here)  caught the attention of a few of our North Dakota friends.  I wanted to highlight some of the comments left by Ashley Anderson who helped start the “Young Energetic People” network in Bowman, ND (population 1600). 

Ashley wrote:

 I’m glad you’ve noticed YEP, Bowman County! We have about 53 members, but you could get started with as few as 10 people in my opinion. We started our group last May with a big kick-off party….. Like with any YP group, getting it up and going-and getting people to always attend is the challenge.

We thought YEP was needed in Bowman County because we are a growing community-unlike some small towns. We have a lot of young families and singles moving in because of our thriving economy and oil production. We wanted these younger people to feel connected to Bowman and want to stay. All too often, a young teacher might move to town, not meet anyone outside of school, and leave after a year. We didn’t want that to happen…. (emphasis mine) 

Since I believe all organizations have a lot to learn when it comes to engaging Gen Y, I asked Ashley to provide some feedback on what they are doing in Bowman to encourage participation.  Here’s how she responded to the question:

We use a lot of email connection and postcards for bigger events. I think Gen Y, X and Millennial generations are very busy. Most have children and are involved with several organizations already. When we have an event, we need to plan and get the word out far in advance and focus on how the event will benefit them and not just waste their time. Planning around basketball and football games and other community events is crucial.  The other thing we’ve noticed is that in the summertime, it’s hard to get people together. It’s easier in the winter, just because choices are limited due to the weather.

The approach of YP groups like Bowman’s Young Energetic People  network is interesting.  In many ways they put social interaction at the front of their efforts to engage young people.  That seems to be a wise decision – especially with Gen Y – because studies show us that young people are very social creatures.  My guess is that over time, the participants in Bowman’s Young Energetic People will develop the emotional attachment to the community that causes them to want to lead these other more traditional community development activities.

Ashley also makes a good point when she says they try to “focus on how the event will benefit them and not waste their time.”  I’d be interested in learning more about how this works, but people are busy and can’t be involved in everything.  So, they will naturally gravitate to events and groups that offer some benefit to them as individuals.  I think they key is showing people how activities that benefit the community also benefit the individual.

There’s a lot more to talk about in what Ashley has to say.  I had wanted to write more about her last comment regarding young teachers only staying a few years because I can relate to it.  I came to Howard as a teacher and didn’t connect until I became involvedd in our community development efforts.  Hopefully I’ll dedicate an entire post to that subject later on.  So I hope anyone with some thoughts on the subject will share them with everyone. 

I’ll end this post with a few questions. Many rural communities the same size as Bowman feel they are too small to successfully create groups like this.  Bowman only has 1500 residents, and they are successful.  But are they an anomaly? Or can YP groups – or other community groups – successfully engage our younger generations?

Note:  (image courtesy of Bowman, ND community websites)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (1)

Young Professionals Groups — quick facts

February 20th, 2009

Here are a few quick topics on young professionals groups that you may be interested in:

North Dakota formed a statewide initiative to connect Young Professionals Groups.  I wonder how their efforts have paid off?  

People have developed a lot of creative names for their groups, but the one I like the best is Bowman Young Energetic People.  I think this is a great name because it suggests that anyone can belong (i.e. you don’t have to be a “professional”) and that members are energetic — no coach potatoes allowed.  (The only online source of information I found on this group was with the YP North Dakota Network.)

The Iowa legislature created the Generation Iowa Commission to “advise and assist in the retention and attraction of young adults to Iowa.” They published their research in an on-line pdf that’s worth checking out.   Besides having an interactive website, the commission is made of young people (all under age 35).

If your community is considering the formation of a young professionals group, I’d recommend you check out YP Commons.  In a way they are a virtual young professionals organization.  They offer some networking opportunities and advice on group formation.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Community Development, Gen Y, Leadership, Quality of Life, Rural | Comments (3)

Young Professionals Groups — a People Attraction Strategy

February 19th, 2009

Young Professionals groups have become quite the rage across the country. One formed last summer in Watertown, South Dakota, and I’ve been watching its development ever since. 

Called Watertown Lite, the group was initiated by the Chamber of Commerce in response to concerns by some employers that their younger employees were not connecting to people outside of the workplace.  They had also been hearing complaints that younger people weren’t “getting involved” in the community, and they hoped this might help change that trend. 

The organization is still in its infancy, but it’s off and running.

 

What’s Watertown Lite all about?

In a nutshell, the purpose of Watertown Liteis to help young people connect within the Watertown community.  They target people ages 21-40 but welcome anyone who is young at heart.  They also open to people of all occupations. 

 Creating social events for young people is at the top of the list for the group’s activities.  They see this as a major way of connecting young people and overcoming the image that there’s nothing to do.  Second, they would like to host some professional development opportunities with such topics as paying off student loans, working with older people, etc….  And finally, they would like to engage in some community service activities. 

As one might expect of a Gen Y organization, Watertown Lite is all over social media, connecting with its members via a web page, Facebook,Picaso, and Twitter. 

 

So Why’s this noteworthy?

The simple answer to the question of why this is a noteworthy subject is that all of our communities – rural, urban, and suburban – are in a contest to attract young people.  Research suggests engaging people – especially young people – in communities helps increase their emotional attachment to the community. The greater the emotional attachment, the more likely they are to stay in their jobs and stick around the community.

In other words, young professionals groups are created as a part of a people attraction and retention strategy.

Personally, I’m a little conflicted over whether our rural communities need a separate young person’s groups as a strategy to engage Gen Y.  After all, I do believe there’s great value in intergenerational activities. 

But research tells us that young people (often referred to as Gen Y) are very social, and they want to be around other young people.  That’s a challenge when there are not a lot of young people in our rural communities. 

And that’s why I’d like to throw out a suggestion.  Why don’t we attempt to form regional young professionals groups? These groups could link young people in our small rural communities those in larger communities.  I think it would be a win-win for everyone.    

To be successful, however, the people in the larger communities would have to be willing to drive to some of our smaller towns occasionally and vice-versa, but I think that would be fun.  At the end of the day, I think all of our communities would be more attractive places to live.  And that’s something everyone would be happy about.  

Note:If you want to learn more on how emotional attachment impact economic development, check out the “Soul of the Community” study.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Gen Y, Leadership, Rural | Comments (0)