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The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce has long recognized the importance of the growing segment of young professionals in Eugene’s business community. We look forward to celebrating the five-year anniversary of our Young Professionals Network.
The Chamber’s mission is to promote a healthy local economy by influencing business success. As baby boomers retire, the number of women joining the work force stabilizes and college attainment levels plateau, young professionals are becoming increasingly important to the economic health of growing cities, according to a recent national report.
Conducted by Portland economist Joe Cortright, the study – "The Young and Restless in Knowledge Economy" – indicates that young, college-educated workers are capable of counteracting this impending economic shift because of their entrepreneurial nature and willingness to relocate. The key for growing cities will be to attract and retain young professionals, Cortright says.
Serving local interests of Young Professionals in the Eugene/Springfield area:
In November of 2004, the Chamber invited several young professionals to help charter a clear path for the implementation of a Young Professionals Network group. This group of 12 formed the YPN Steering Committee and developed the YPN mission: to provide young professionals with programming specially targeted to meet their needs for networking, professional and personal development, community involvement, awareness and influence.
In order to meet all the needs stated above, YPN developed two different meeting structures. The first meeting structure is held on the first Thursday of each month and features networking and skill development opportunities. Each month is to be hosted by a different host at the host’s location of business. It’s a great opportunity to network, build connections and learn about the area’s businesses.
In addition, the Steering Committee developed a second meeting structure, named Community Connections and was designed to be strictly informative.YPN Community Connections features programs on current issues facing business and the community. Community Connections meetings address one of the key goals of building future community leaders through connections to the community and the Chamber. Community Connection meetings are free and participation is limited to 35 attendees. Check the on-line calendar for the next Community Connection. |
YPN is sponsored by:
Thank you to our YPN hosts for 2011: |