CHAMBER NOTES

W. H. CHAMBER NOTES The West Hartford Chamber of Commerce: Future Leaders of West Hartford

BY CHRIS CONWAY

For many, the typical image of a chamber of commerce is an organization made up of older and established professionals with the occasional new business celebrating with a ribbon cutting sprinkled in for good measure. There are longstanding organizations such as Junior Chamber International - also known as Jaycees - who have served younger professionals in the areas of leadership development, networking, and community involvement for over a century. At its prime in the mid-1970s, JCI had over 350,000 members. Over time, membership has diminished to approximately 12,000. This is not to say that today’s young professionals are left to their own devices. Over the past several years, chambers of commerce around the world have established committees or suborganizations to support those starting out on their professional journeys.

In 2017, a group of young professionals in the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce founded FLOW - Future Leaders of West Hartford. It was established with three primary driving principles: social engagement, education and philanthropy. Chamber Outreach & Development Coordinator Kate Kobs and Membership Coordinator Jessie Bouclier support the committee members with program development, events, and marketing efforts. The committee creates programming, provides resources, and hosts networking opportunities to support the unique needs of emerging professionals

“FLOW works to provide opportunities for young professionals (age 21 to 40ish) who live, work, or play in the West Hartford area. “We have had many social events that we use as fundraisers for local charities including Connecticut Foodshare, The Town that Cares, The Children’s Museum, and The Noah Webster House,”” says Bouclier. “Since COVID-19 has changed the way many of our businesses are being run and how young professionals are living their lives, we have shifted to fit the needs of the community. We have done Zoom Business After Hours, Trivia Fundraisers, outdoor events celebrating businesses launching and more!”

Maura Keating of Keating Agency Insurance is the current chairperson of the committee. Her brother Ryan is one of the founding members of the organization. “FLOW has been such a great way to connect with likeminded young professionals in the Chamber and local community by providing social, philanthropic and business events,” says Keating. “I enjoy going to any Chamber event knowing that FLOW members who I have created great connections with will also be there, as well as partnering with other young professional groups across Connecticut. Becoming

the Chairperson of FLOW was especially fun since I work with my brother who helped found the organization and still attends our social events.”

Several other chambers of commerce in Connecticut have their own young professionals organizations such as The Buzz (Greater New Britain Chamber of Commerce), FUEL (Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce), and SPARC (CT River Valley Chamber). There is even a statewide coalition of young professionals’ groups named CTYP - Connecticut Young Professionals. FLOW is actively engaged with this group and, by extension, other YP groups across the state. The onset of COVID-19 created an opportunity for groups across the state to pool resources and collaborate on a number of programs and initiatives.

Melanie Strout, Director of Civic Engagement at the University of Bridgeport, is a founding member of Young Professional Network for Connecticut. “YPLNCT is a collective group open to all young professional organizations in CT,” says Strout. “The collective has over fifteen active young professional groups and is growing! Established in May of 2020, the group meets monthly to share best practices, plan statewide events, and share resources. The virtual world has broken down existing geographical barriers to collaboration.”

In the last year, the group has had some impressive accomplishments. They coordinated a 10-hour Racial Ethnic Equity (REE) training for 25 young professional group leaders funded by DanburyWorks. This training was designed to introduce REE and equip leaders with the tools they need to evaluate their organizations and begin to identify areas where best practices can be applied. It also included virtual panel discussions for Diversity Equity & Inclusion in the workplace. An extension of this initiative was the AntiRacist Book Club which kicked off in late spring 2021 with plans for another group in winter of 2022. In addition, YPLNCT hosted a Statewide Virtual Speed Networking event and conducted a CT Statewide Survey on the initial impact of COVID-19. While organizations such as JCI have grown smaller, this does not by any means indicate a lack of enthusiasm for today’s young professionals to engage with each other as they build the foundations for the future. Given their collective passion for addressing the evolving needs of the business landscape, the future certainly looks bright.

Christopher Conway Executive Director West Hartford Chamber of Commerce 860.521.2300 - office 860.810.5663 - cell cconway@whchamber.com www.whchamber.com

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