Page 6 - BusinessWest October 31, 2022

6 OCTOBER 31, 2022 FEATURE BusinessWest
YPS leaders past and present, from left: Michael Kusek, Kathleen Plante, Ryan McCollum, Kara Bombard, Heather Clark, and Tyler Hadley.
YPS
The Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield
is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. That’s not a big number, but for a ‘young’ organization, in every sense of that word, it is a significant milestone. What is being celebrated is ongoing work to carry out a mission to bring young people together, to get them involved,
to help shape them into leaders, and, while they’re at it, motivate them to stay in the 413. Much has changed over those 15 years, but that important mission hasn’t.
By George O’Brien
ifteen years.
Depending on how old you are, it’s either a long time or ... a really long
time.
To those who were involved in the creation of the Young Professional
at 15 F
Group Created to Stem the Brain Drain Remains Loyal to Its Roots
Society of Greater Springfield (YPS), it certainly seems like the latter. The city and the region have changed considerably since 2007, and their lives have as well. Most are in different jobs than they were back then, and if they were in business for themselves, their venture is probably exponentially larger and more diverse.
Meanwhile, technology and social media have advanced in ways that probably could not have been imagined back then — early meetings were all planned by email, word got out through Evite, and organizers had real rolodexes, for example — and the physical landscape has been altered; many of the venues that hosted those