RUTLAND—Details of the 2016 Young Professionals Summit of Vermont were announced during a press conference held at Castleton Downtown in Rutland, Wednesday, Sept. 7. Representatives from Rutland Young Professionals (RYP), Heritage Family Credit Union, and Rutland Economic Development Corporation (REDC) collectively shared details for this year’s event.
The summit will take place on Oct. 15 at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Rutland from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration is $20 and includes morning refreshments and lunch from Roots the Restaurant. A networking event will follow at a downtown venue. Registration for the event is now open at ypsummitvt.com/register. In addition, a new college outreach program will award scholarships to students at Vermont colleges and universities.
Last year’s inaugural event attracted over 125 attendees and was a substantial step in connecting young professionals from around the state. Attendees also began to share ideas and initiate discussions related to important issues for young professionals in Vermont.
This year’s event will be sponsored again by Heritage Family Credit Union and is being planned by a four-member committee consisting of Rutland Economic Development Corporation’s Tyler Richardson, RYP’s Katye Munger, last year’s Summit Chair Matt Bloomer, and this year’s summit chair, Heather Robertson.
Robertson, a content strategist for Beutler Ink who telecommutes, was an attendee at last year’s summit and had recently moved to Mendon from Los Angeles. “I moved from a population of nearly 4 million to a town with just over a thousand people,” she said. “The summit was a huge opportunity for me to network with other like-minded young people.”
Impressed with the quality and scale of the event, she was inspired to get more involved this year. “The spirit of the day is that our demographic can spur positive changes in Vermont. The passion is infectious,” said Robertson.
Like Robertson, Tyler Richardson was also new to the area—from Nebraska—when he attended last year’s summit and volunteered to help with event registration.
“My involvement with the event led directly to great friendships and career opportunities,” he said. “I can’t overstate the value of this event for the development of young professionals in Vermont. I’m looking forward to the summit this year, building off of the great ideas generated last year.”
Bloomer, one of RYP’s six founding board members, is excited that the summit was a catalyst for both Robertson’s and Richardson’s continued involvement with RYP and the community, as well as this year’s event. “A big part of our mission at RYP is to provide opportunities for young professionals to meet each other, make them feel welcome and inspire them to further engage with the community, so it’s really encouraging to hear the stories of both Heather and Tyler,” said Bloomer.
Submitted Photo
Summit Chair Heather Robertson announces the summit.
