"Grand Island Young Professionals” is now an officially registered tradename.
The program via Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce pursued registration to “protect the name of the Grand Island Young Professionals” and prevent it being used by others, said GIACC Vice President Courtney Glock.
“To confirm and solidify that name, we applied to create that tradename that recognizes it in Grand Island as a full-on organization, as it has been since 2006,” said Glock. “It affirms that what we’ve been doing all along is official, and that it is longstanding and not anything that’s going to end tomorrow.”
There are two names that were registered: “Grand Island Young Professionals” and “Young Professionals of Grand Island.”
“We’re one of the only communities (in Nebraska) that hadn’t had that tradename, having that name, official title, associated to us, so that was something we found important,” she said. “We didn’t know we didn’t have it, but now we do.”
The program, which started in 2006, boasts as many as 130 members, said Glock.
Its sole mission is “building and growing our young leaders in the community.”
“It’s something the Grand Island Chamber has spearheaded since day one,” she said. “It’s an organization that lies within the Grand Island Chamber.”
Glock oversees the program in her capacity as GIACC’s workforce development director. The program, like Grand Island’s Leadership Tomorrow, aims to attract to and retain in Grand Island those young professionals.
“It’s designed to dig the heels of those individuals coming to our community, working in our community, living in our community, into our Grand Island soil, so they stay here, so they find that sense of investment in the community,” she said.
The program has no cap and is always welcoming new members, said Glock.
“Anyone who wants to join that program can do that at any time,” she said. “We’re comprised of individuals ages 21 to 40 primarily. I always say that anyone who feels young can be a young professional.”
Program members engage in tours of local industries and businesses and meet with business owners and community leaders.
Young Professionals on Thursday enjoyed a tour of Central Nebraska Regional Airport.
“It’s those little behind-the-scenes tours and one-on-one conversations that allow young leaders to really put themselves out there, and build on those leadership skills and step outside their comfort zone,” she said.
Having completed the registration process is exciting, said Glock.
“It was something we didn’t necessarily know we were missing, but it’s an important piece of confirming and validating all that our program has to offer our community, showing that we are going to continue moving forward in building that momentum,” she said. “It’s also a recognizable name for everyone who comes into Grand Island.”
For more information, visit www.gichamber.com.
