Young professionals gathering
MORRIS -- Twenty- and 30-somethings filled Me Tu, a woman's boutique in downtown Morris on Tuesday, but not just to browse its trendy clothes and accessories.
Tuesday was the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry's first Young Professionals Network event. It was a social hour that attracted about 30 young professionals to network with those around their age.
"The last (networking event) I was at, I was the youngest person there, and that can be weird," said Cassie Cipriani, a groundwork legal advocate for Guardian Angel Community Services' Grundy office. "You want to be taken seriously, but how can you when you're the youngest one there?"
This was the reason behind getting the YPN started, said 26-year-old Sarah Peterson, the chamber's membership development director. Peterson and chamber ambassador Matt Dennison of Old Second Bank initiated the start of the group.
The YPN is an organization of people in their 20s and 30s who are interested in helping Grundy County's community grow.
The event was similar to the chamber's monthly Business After Hours hosted by different chamber members. Although the group will continue to have social events like Tuesday's, it also will have luncheons featuring speakers geared to helping young professionals succeed and educational seminars. A separate Web site also will be created, Peterson said.
"As scary at it might seem, we are the future leaders of Grundy County," Dennison joked as he thanked the crowd for attending.
A date for the next event has not yet been set, but Peterson said to expect one in June. After last week's event, several businesses came forward with the hopes of hosting. A planning committee is being created for the new organization and one of its first tasks will be to choose the date.
"We don't have a set structure for it so that the group can design the events," Peterson said.
Chamber executive director Caroline Portlock said many of the attendees said they were encouraged to come to the event by their bosses.
"It's nice to see the normal people who attend the Business After Hours saying, 'Hey, this is designed specifically for you,'" Portlock said.
Formerly a hairdresser, Turk said she loves two things: hair and shopping. It was time to work in the field of her second love.
"I shopped in the downtown shopping district on my days off, and I just thought it would be so cute to have a boutique here," she said.
For more information on the Young Professionals Network, joining the planning committee or on hosting an event, contact Peterson at (815) 942-0113 or sarah@grundychamber.com.
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