Holland Young Professionals

Sunday, April 06, 2008

By Myron Kukla

The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND — Jim Lilly wasn’t sure how many of his old friends would still be around town after he had been away for six years for college and work.

A Holland native and commercial banker with National City Bank, the 26-year-old found much had changed in his time away.

“The young people I knew had moved on to other places and new jobs. For me, it was like moving to a new town even though it was home,” Lilly said.

But he didn’t have to wait long to find new friends and professional acquaintances. He became a member of the Holland Young Professionals, a loose-knit social and professional organization targeting 21- to 35-year-olds for networking and fun.

“It was great to come back and have a social network of young professionals to plug myself into,” said Lilly, who has been a member of the group since 2006.

Holland Young Professionals is in its fifth year, with more than 400 members.

The momentum for Holland Young Professionals “came out of the Cool Cities initiative Governor (Jennifer) Granholm was promoting to make Michigan cities more vibrant and attractive to young workers,” said Barry Rice, one of the organization’s founders and the club’s current president.

“Right from the start, HYP took off faster and grew quicker than any of us had expected. One day there were three of us talking about an idea and it seemed like a month later we had a hundred members,” said Rice, business development manager for the Worksighted computer networking firm of Holland.

He said the group’s mission is to develop growth opportunities to attract and help keep educated young people in the area.

“HYP helps young people become part of the community. They get to meet new people, expand business contacts, stay up on current trends and have fun with their peers,” said Mat Nguyen, Worksighted’s president.

He was a co-founder of Holland Young Professionals with Rice and Robyn Wennersten-Vriesman of Fifth Third Bank.

Similar non-affiliated groups have sprung up in Grand Rapids, Grand Haven and Kalamazoo.

Among Holland Young Professionals’ regular activities are e2e events with economic development agency Lakeshore Advantage, bringing in monthly business speakers to discuss various topics.

The group also partners with the Holland Area Chamber of Commerce and encourages its members to take part in the Leadership Holland program.

Among social functions the group hosts are monthly Unwind gatherings at restaurants. Other events have included an Oktoberfest celebration and golf outings.

“We try to have a community-service aspect to most of our events,” Nguyen said. “Like the past New Year’s Eve party we held at the Park Theatre. It was not only a party, but also a chance to promote this developing downtown venue and raise money for its improvement.”

The gathering raised $3,000 for the theater’s renovation fund.

That type of activity is important to Lilly.

“When I was growing up here, Holland had a reputation of not having a lot to offer young people,” he said.

“But now, I see a lot of exciting things happening here — like HYP — that helps create an exciting local culture that makes the town more inviting.”