FRIDAY, July 4, 2014
TEMPLE DAILY TELEGRAM / 1
TempleTX.org
JULY • 2014 Giving Temple’s Emerging Leaders EvEnts CalEndar a Seat at the Table BUSINESS NETWORKING BREAKFAST Wednesday, July 9 6:45 am Sponsored by:
Wildflower Place
Luncheon Monday, July 14 11:45 am - 1:00 pm Hilton Garden Inn
BUSINESS AFTER HOURS Thursday, July 24 5:00 pm Sponsored by:
AUG • 2014 BUSINESS LUNCH Tuesday, August 5 12:00 pm Sponsored by:
BUSINESS NETWORKING BREAKFAST Wednesday, Aug. 13 6:45 am Sponsored by:
ee it Up!
Golf party & auction
Thursday, August 21
5:00 pm, Wildflower Country Club
6th Annual Chamber Classic Golf Outing Friday, August 22
WILDFLOWER COUNTRY CLUB
By: Katie Smith, Temple Chamber of Commerce
As a result of the desire to engage the next generation, the Commerce. “Having done this elsewhere, there’s a very positive Temple Chamber of Commerce has been in the process of benefit of incorporating the ideas, thoughts, hopes and desires developing the “Emerging Leaders”, a new committee targeting of the younger population of the community and what they young professionals. The initial concept started from the Legislative Luncheon “Making “In working with the initial charter group, we Temple a Home for Millennials”, which was prefer to have this focused on community developpresented by the Chamber in June of last year. ment and growth by getting our younger leaders While the purpose of the luncheon was to identify areas of improvement for Temple to engaged in organizations such as United Way, the attract and retain young professionals, there Chamber of Commerce, Parks & Leisure Services and was also a need identified for the voice of that others where they can get a seat at the table and generation to be heard. where their opinion will be of value,” - David Nix, Rod Henry, President of the Temple Chamber of Commerce, also observed that 2014 Chair of the Board of Directors need while attending a focus group to determine what the community wants Downtown Temple to look like for future generations. “When you looked would like to see it transform into.” As they become organized and develop the concept, the around the table, you saw very few of that age group sitting there, talking, and providing input about what they think,” said Emerging Leaders are limited to a small group in order to work Henry. “It’s extremely important as you’re developing your com- through any kinds of issues that may come up. Eligibility will be munity that you have the input of all sectors, and as the limited to members of the Temple Chamber of Commerce, and other details such as age or involvement in the community are Chamber’s leadership looked at it, we saw a void.” Within 6 months, the Board of Directors had identified sever- being discussed by the group. Nix is confident that creation of this new committee will help al key individuals who began building the structure and role in time to introduce the Emerging Leaders at the Legislative ensure the relevancy of the Chamber as an organization. “We Luncheon “Action Reports” in December. In the presentation, realized that an element of our community had not been a goal of the group would be to become an avenue for young engaged or invited to the table to participate in planning what leaders to serve the community, which David Nix, Chair of the our area is developing into,” he said. “We have identified that eleBoard of Directors, believes should be one of their central func- ment as the Emerging Leaders, and are excited to support them tions. “In working with the initial charter group, we prefer to as they identify areas in which to serve our community.” have this focused on community development and growth by getting our younger leaders engaged in organizations such as United Way, the Chamber of Commerce, Parks & Leisure Services and others where they can get a seat at the table and where their opinion will be of value,” said Nix. “This way, it focuses on engagement of that age group in helping them develop the future of Temple, Texas, rather than becoming a social venue.” In order to be the voice of Millennials, it was decided that the Chair of the Emerging Leaders should also be on the Board of Directors during the year they are serving. This way, the next generation could provide input into decisions being made which would impact the future growth of Temple. This is a great value while developing the community, as Henry discovered by implementing the same concept in other Chambers of