Professionals just want to have

From “Bark in the Park” to the jams of pianos duelling, Terre Haute Young Leaders have been making a lot of noise about town the last few years. And they’re looking to make some more.

Brady Meadors was staving off potential windstorms the eve of the 28th Annual Banks of the Wabash Festival, setting up the concession stand he owns as part of KBL & Co. When not selling homestyle tenderloins at Fairbanks Park and Clinton’s Little Italy Festival, the 31-year old is a partner in Precision Lawn Plus, a full-service lawn and landscaping company. And as this year’s chairperson of the Terre Haute Young Leaders, he has hundreds of contacts with whom to network.

A member for the last four years, Meadors credits the organization with helping local young people network and advance professionally.

“Our goal as a whole is to get the young professionals here in town engaged in the community. And we do that by giving them an opportunity to meet each other and the leaders in the area,” he said, explaining the big-picture hope that young leaders stay in town to eventually become the old leaders who groom future successors.

So far, it seems to be working.

“We’re one of the fastest growing young professionals groups in Indiana,” Rachel Leslie said proudly.

Leslie, senior vice-president of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, and a young leader on many levels, said eight members kicked the organization off a planning table four years ago, mushrooming it up to 240 at last count.

Qualifications are pretty loose for the group which meets at noon the first Thursday each month in the Clabber Girl Bake Shoppe. The age range is 21 to 40 and individuals must work for or own an organization or business in Terre Haute. Annual dues are $10. The biggest requirement is the desire for fun.

“Young leaders is just a really fun group,” remarked Susan Snider, 31, past chairperson and member.

The Indianapolis native graduated from Indiana State University and returned to Terre Haute after working a stint back home. For the last six years she’s been in public relations and marketing at UAP Clinic, and has been a Young Leader the last four.

The Terre Haute Young Leaders have raised more than $60,000 for area non-profits in just four years, but what first drew Snider’s attention was the camaraderie.

“I actually went to an event that they had and had a lot of fun. I was looking for a way to connect with professionals my own age,” she said, explaining she’s surrounded by people much older than herself at work.

The organization quickly proved itself to be many bangs for the buck, as she and others just getting started in their professional careers realized the value of networking amid social activities. Trips to restaurants, bowling nights and movies mix among projects to raise money for the Terre Haute Human Society, the 14th and Chestnut Center and United Way.

Leslie explained that Terre Haute Young Leaders grew from the ashes of an older organization geared toward younger professionals. But as that group died out, community leaders recognized the value of maintaining and grooming younger leaders hoped to stay within the area. The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce picked up the mantle and hosts Young Leaders under its organizational umbrella, modeling it after other groups like it from across the country. Membership ranges from school teachers to physicians, lawyers to small business owners, and participants can pick from any of the dozens of community projects launched each year.

“It’s an array of different people at the table,” she said, explaining committees are broken down into headings such as “Young Professional Social,” “Leadership Workshops” and “Event Planning.”

The Terre Haute Young Leaders’ first big event was hosted on behalf of the United Way of the Wabash Valley, and recently completed its 4th Annual Bark in the Park and 6th Annual Dueling Pianos Concert.

Meadors said the organization’s recent growth in membership has given it ample room to focus on specialization and activity rather than recruitment goals.

“We make everything social when it’s all said and done,” he said, figuring the activities break down to about 60 percent business and 40 percent social. The two are hard to distinguish though as members become friends as well as colleagues ranging many professions. “The connection to the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce is the main thing. Being a Young Leader helps get you to a portal to the Chamber and all of those events,” he said, emphasizing the number of opportunities presented by that group.

Snider recounted her experiences moving back to Terre Haute and said people in their mid-20s and early 30s are looking out for those kind of opportunities. Getting involved in a group with its own Facebook page and social activities is a great way to break the initial ice of a new town, she said. And it’s good experience.

New members can jump into any number of the annual activities hosted by the group, learning the ropes of launching and operating events. This experience not only introduces people to the community and future business associates, but it transfers well to the workplace where such leadership roles are valued, she said.

In the end, regardless of Terre Haute’s census population, the community can be thriving given a dynamic culture of youth active and motivated, she said.

Leslie said the public at-large might not notice their name, but Young Leaders are involved in just about every social endeavor in town, including the recent “Reading Buddies” program launched between the United Way of the Wabash Valley and the Vigo County School Corporation. Nearly 1,500 stuffed animals will be disbursed to area first graders as “buddies” to whom the children can read during the summer. Some day, those children themselves might become local leaders of the community.

Leslie added that in any community, culture is a key ingredient, and Terre Haute Young Leaders hope to play that role, even as this crop helps advance the next.