Community group for young professionals in development
Young Professionals of Maryville
Maryville will soon have a platform for professionals under 40 years old to network with each other.
The Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce and Nodaway County Economic Development are teaming up to create Young Professionals of Maryville, a group for employees and business leaders in Maryville up to 40 years of age.
Chamber executive director Lily White said other areas have similar groups, and bringing one to Maryville has been a goal for a while.
“When I go to businesses for ribbon cuttings or First Friday Coffee, I often see younger professionals employed or visiting, and we have conversations about where other younger professionals are,” White said. “They always wonder if there’s anything available for them.
“Usually, the answer is joining a service organization, which is great to do, but most service organizations are full of older people or others with more time on their hands to contribute, so it’s hard for younger people to fit in. We want to give young professionals the opportunity to get connected with others around the community so that they stick around and want to give back to the community.”
Nodaway County Economic Development executive director Josh McKim said the partnership between the Chamber and NCED is still in progress.
“We’re still in the early phases of putting everything together, so we don’t know what the partnership will look like just yet,” McKim said. “But we both see a need to connect young professionals with each other so that there are outlets for socialization.
“We also want to help encourage and promote the younger professionals in our community. We’re a great community, but we want to make sure the next generation is staying here and seeing the opportunities we see for growth.”
At this point, McKim said, young professionals aren’t finding those opportunities to connect in Maryville. He said the connection between the community and young professionals was lacking, which is why something meaningful is necessary.
“It’s challenging to create something meaningful like this, but it’s important to develop those connections,” McKim said. “We want to make sure we’re working to help people feel as welcome as possible, to feel engaged, and to feel involved.
“If they feel those things, they’re more likely to stay in the community. We want them to stay because they provide great human capital, but also because the community is better off with those individuals, and those individuals are better off when they stay in a community.”
White added that while Leadership Maryville was already doing a great job of getting people connected, Young Professionals of Maryville would be seeking directional input from the group itself.
“My goal is to get more young professionals involved in the conversations and involved in the city,” White said. “Lots of times, it’s the same executives and bosses sitting around the table talking about where they want to see things going.
“This is a way to get the younger people involved in what happens here in Maryville. That way, if they aren’t from here or don’t have family here, they’re still more likely to stay here and get attached. Right now, there’s a gap where that needs to exist.”
The group is in its infancy and looking for members. At this point, there is no cost to join, but White said that if the group wants to throw events or anything like that, there would need to be a cost so that they will have a budget.
The first event for Young Professionals is an after hours get-together on Thursday, April 27 at the Dogtown Bar and Grill, 130 North Depot St. in Maryville. The event starts at 5 p.m.
The group can be found on Facebook by visiting http://www.facebook.com/ypofmaryville, as well as on Twitter, @ypofmaryville.