New Year, New Us!

ICYMI: Last night at the Bloomington Chamber’s Business After-Hours at the Woolery Mill, our hYPe steering committee was finally able to announce something we’ve been working on for the past several months: we’re rebranding!  (Check out the Facebook Live video)

 Let us (re)introduce you to YPB – Young Professionals-Bloomington.  

So why the change? Here’s a little background:

• Our group was established as hYPe in 2010 and our first event was held at Scotty’s Brewhouse in January 2011. Since then we have hosted nearly one hundred events for local YPs ranging from volunteer, social, or professional development activities to our annual 10 Under 40 Awards.
• We are a program of The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce. Our mission is to create a network of young professionals in the greater Bloomington area that fosters personal and professional development through relationship building, skill enhancement, community enrichment, and career advancement opportunities. If you’re a recent grad, new to town, or just want to forge deeper connections in the community— join us! We want you to love where you live.
• Our volunteer steering committee of 13 is comprised of YPs from a diverse array of industries and companies in Bloomington. The committee is also now split into subcommittees focused on professional/personal skills development (which we call #adulting), civic engagement, arts and culture, social/networking, and marketing. We meet monthly to plan events throughout the year in each of these categories and most are free and open to any young professional looking to build new connections in Bloomington. Have any event ideas? Let us know! We create programming for YOU.

 
With all that said, we have been around for almost ten (!!!) years and we felt it was the perfect time to rebrand our group, revamp our planning process, and broaden our scope of events (FYI: we’re no longer sticking to the second Wednesday at 5:30p.)
 
What’s next? Help us kick off a new chapter in the ongoing evolution of our group! Our first event as YPB is a Lunch and Learn on Building Resilience featuring Kelley School of Business professor and professional communications coach, Tatiana Kolovou. (You may also have taken a class with her at Ethos Cycling!)  

The luncheon takes place on February 1 and tickets ($13—includes lunch) can be purchased from The Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce here.   

Lastly and most importantly, THANK YOU for your past support of hYPe and your ongoing support of YPB. We look forward to building on our record of creating meaningful programming and forging new connections for our young community.

Sincerely,

YPB Steering Committee - Website
Lauren Dexter (Chair)
Ellen Rodkey (Vice Chair)
Samantha Branson (Secretary)
Alex Carter
Adam Gross
Amelia Lewis
Molly Nagy
Yaz Rabadi
Zerina Razic
Amber Riley
Danielle Smith
Moriah Sowders
Jeanette Truong

Director of Talent and Workforce 
Christopher Emge

PS: Keep an eye on what we have going on through our other platforms:
Facebook: YPBloomington
LinkedIn Group: YPB - Young Professionals Bloomington
Website: chamberbloomington.org/YPB

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