Network links young professionals

Local young workers should do more to learn from each other’s common experiences and ties to universities, many of them said Thursday.

Fifty business professionals attended the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Network kickoff event Thursday night at Off Franklin Bar & Grill.

The party-like atmosphere, complete with live music and drinks, included a brief introduction to the network and gave people a chance to mingle in a setting more relaxed than a typical office.

“If we help young professionals build peer networks, they’ll stay in this area and keep their talent in this area,” said program coordinator Tracy Hager.

The goal of the group is to help create strong networks that will be beneficial to the business community, she said.

Members must be younger than 40 years old and must work for a company that is a chamber member.

The network also offers opportunities to learn business skills through various workshops organized by the chamber every fourth Thursday of the month.

“Most people want to do business with people they know,” said Marvin “Al” Jones, a divisional vice president at the Southeast division of AXA Advisors LLC.

“Networking is a way for people to help each other.”

AXA Advisors, a global financial advising firm that has a regional branch in Raleigh, is sponsoring the network for the first year.

Several young professionals at the kickoff event said it is difficult to meet other business professionals their age in Chapel Hill.

Network Co-chairman Matthew Davis, a 29-year-old who recently became a sales manager at ChannelAdvisor, said that even though he graduated from the University, he still has a hard time finding young professionals because most graduates move away.

“It’s kind of like living in a new city,” he said of the turnover.

Davis and Co-chairwoman Kathleen Phelps, a 30-year-old account executive at Sports Radio 850-AM “The Buzz,” both said they want to meet other young professionals in the area.

“It’s a nice thought that we’d know each other,” 29-year-old massage therapist Colleen Monroe said of her peers. “But because of different schedules, it’s hard to meet people.”

Several people said they hope the meetings will help them get to know those with similar interests.

“It’s hard for me because most people my age are going out, and I can’t do that,” said 23-year-old Joni Craig, a general manager at the Hampton Inn and Suites and director of operations of the Holiday Inn Express on Farrington Road.

But others said working in a university town provides a better opportunity to meet business people their own age.

“If you were somewhere other than the Triangle, the demographic would be a lot older,” said 29-year-old Christian Rich, a benefit consultant at Magellan Benefits Group.

The network will next meet at the Chapel Hill Country Club, at 103 Lancaster Drive, on April 28. The event will offer a golf etiquette workshop and network social.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.