Young Professional to Host Dinner

Young Professionals Group Presence Grows inWestmoreland County

An organization of 20 and 30 somethings making their way into the business world provides a great support system for younger professionals. The Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Group serves that purpose by providing quarterly programming, sometimes offered in the form of valuable networking opportunities, leadership and professional development seminars, and, in this case, a chance to give back to the community.

“Each quarter , we schedule a fun, engaging network event,” said Hannah Kahn, GLLV chamber membership director. “So far, we’ve hosted networking nights at several local restaurants, a speed networking event (similar to speed dating), and our most popular recent get together was a shooting simulation and training at Safe & Secure Training & Range in Latrobe.”

From its inception in 2015, one of the biggest goals of YPG has been to serve chamber members under age 40 by creating opportunities for networking, education, career building and community service. The last of those opportunities is an important aspect and is embodied in the group’s biggest event of the year, the YPG Kickoff to Giving Dinner. This dinner will be held in the social hall at Holy Family Catholic Church in Latrobe on Saturday, November 17. The dinner is open and free to anyone in need of a hot meal or conversation with neighbors. The group will begin serving this hot meal at 12 pm. In the past, this event has been well received. Over 100 hot meals were provided to the Latrobe community last year.

“It takes many hands to help plan and prepare this dinner,” Kahn said. “Last year, we served over 100 meals. The extra food was donated to a local non profit organization in Latrobe. We are looking to expand our reach each year, and continue this pre-Thanksgiving tradition.”

As we gather our group of Young Professionals, who are joined by volunteers from the EWCTC culinary program and Saint Vincent College, we hope to instill the importance of community service that has been passed down from our community leaders, as this group are the leaders of tomorrow.

Among those participating in YPG from the business community is Lindsay Fennell, Regional Marketing and Communications specialist for Kennametal’s WIDIA brand .

“I am 27 years old and I took an immediate interest once I heard about the Chamber’s Young Professionals Group,” Fennell said. “I had lunch with Briana (Tomack, GLLV president) and learned more about the YPG, and attended my first event at Sharky’s. I instantly saw the value of the program. I met several other young professionals from all different industries. It was a really easy way to connect with others in a relaxed environment.”

November 2018 | 4