At 10 years, Young Professionals Network has grown from good idea to must-have membership

Ten years ago, a small group of young professionals in Sioux Falls met to make something new.

They founded Sioux Falls Young Professionals Network. Now, at ten years old, the group is grown up. So are its founders, many of whom now hold significant business leadership positions.

The group in 10 years has gone from a new, good idea to an institution for young professionals in Sioux Falls seeking to learn more about their community, meet peers and big shots and get to know each other better.

Sioux Falls YPN is set to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its founding at a birthday bash at the Museum of Visual Materials on Thursday.

The concept of a Young Professionals Network isn't new. But it was new to Sioux Falls in 2009 when a handful of young businesspeople and the Sioux Falls Area of Chamber of Commerce, with funding help from Forward Sioux Falls, joined up to create the new group targeting those aged 21-39.

Tim Schut, then a financial adviser at Waddell & Reed, was one of the founding members. 

"I think the Chamber deserves a lot of credit for being forward thinking," he said. "I think their perspective was, we have an opportunity to engage young leaders and really grow them into productive people in our community."

New YPN proved an instant success

Not every organization enjoys early success. But the Sioux Falls YPN did.

At its first event, at the then-new Cherapa Place, hundreds showed up, forcing the organizers to move the event outside.

"We said, 'Oh my gosh, there is definitely a demand and need for this in our community,'" Schut said. "As we were getting this thing put together, we thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if we had 100 members by the end of the first year?' And we were at 400 by the end of the first year."

Word of mouth has been crucial way of growing the group, and providing a welcoming experience for participants and prospective new members is key, said Kayla Huizing, YPN manager at the Chamber of Commerce. 

"The thing I think about YPN that is awesome is everyone is so open to meet other people, they’re excited to meet other people," She said. "When you go to one of our Off The Clocks, our happy hour event, I think there’s not as much fear as there might be at other events, because everyone is in the same boat. There's just this energy, because there’s people who want to meet other people.”

Schut said the YPN experience formed life-long friendships. Many of the original YPN members have remained friends, even as some have aged out of the group, he said.  

"There's just some real synergy at being with a group of your peers that are all going through all those life events at the same time and trying to advance in your career, like a lot of things that's the real value of YPN, the relationships you build," he said.

YPN provides 'seat at the big kids' table'

Christopher Filsinger and his wife were new to the city when they moved to Sioux Falls from Sioux City in 2011. Filsinger, hired as a credit analyst at CorTrust Bank, started hunting for organizations in which to get involved, and YPN jumped out at him.

He went to his first YPN mixer, got intimidated by the sea of strangers and went home. But he went back for another. And another.

Soon he was a group member, then on the Personal & Professional Development Team, and later on the group's steering committee. Filsinger, now vice president at CorTrust, is now the steering committee's vice-chair.

"It's been a great way for me to get involved and I really enjoy the work we do and I feel passionate about what YPN stands for, what it does for our young leaders in your community," he said. "So that in itself makes it easy to get involved and help out however I can."

One of the organization's most popular events is A Seat At The Table, where YPN members get to meet with community and business leaders for some face time.

YPN's connection to and home within the Chamber of Commerce gives it unique opportunities to rub shoulders with the city's business leaders, said Huizing.

"I think the biggest thing YPN gives young professionals is access," she said. "I don't think there’s any other organization in town that gives as much access to resources and individuals, just because we’re tied to the Chamber."

YPN brings in individuals from a variety of industries and organizations, including some who are young professionals themselves but have started a successful business or are otherwise moving and shaking the city.

"What I really admired about the organization was it really created the opportunity to get to the big kids' table, if you will, to provide that catalyst, to give you the knowledge of the city and the major players," Schut said.

A legacy of growing, keeping local leaders

To talk to Filsinger and Schut is to span the entire history of the Sioux Falls YPN, and they both grappled with the same question: How to keep young people in Sioux Falls?

"The YPN can be a great resource to connect with some of those people and help them realize, 'Hey, Sioux Falls is a great place to be, it's a great place to have a career, start a family,' and maybe open their eyes to staying here in Sioux Falls," Filsinger said. "You don't have to go very far to have a good place to have a career."

YPN has been a serious contributor to Sioux Falls' ability to retain local high school and college graduates, Schut said.

"I think YPN and the big revitalization of downtown have made 'staying home' relevant," he said. "People want to live in Sioux Falls, we have all the amenities they're looking for."

Even if they like Sioux Falls for its amenities, young professionals won't want to stay if they don't see a career future. So a central focus for YPN has been on catapulting its members forward in their careers, and its proven successful, Schut said.

"It opened up growth for so many of us, to take those positions in our organizations that we aspired to, and get involved in our community," said Schut, now vice president of private banking and wealth management and private banking manager at First Premier Bank.

In the future, looking out, and in

The Sioux Falls' YPN future appears to be centered on both inward and outward development. 

The organization has, in the past year, amped up its efforts to educate its members on local and statewide issues, with a Civic Engagement Action Team and planning Topics On Tap meetings that have hosted a mayoral debate, candidates and other topical speakers.

"That’ll continue to be a focus – it’s something we haven’t had a focus on in the last 9 years, so that’s something we’re excited about," Huizing said.

Filsinger, on the group's steering committee, said YPN will focus on reaching out to the variety of businesses in the city, networking events that target, say, health care and other important sectors whose members may have have the schedule flexibility for the usual YPN events.

Trying to meet members where they're at is a central part of YPN's expanding efforts, said Huizing, including building out an online community with a Facebook group, and a virtual book club.

"I think that is going to be super beneficial to us. People are meeting in person less, and there’s a ton more events that people are getting hit up with, so we want to change with the times so we get high engagement for our members," she said.

Schut, who has aged out of the group, still looks on fondly as the organization continues its growth. The organization has served 3,000 members and its membership stands at about 1,000. A far cry from that early handful of founding members.

"I call it my fourth kid. I've got three kids, but YPN is kind of my fourth kid because I got to be there from the start. But that's what's great about it, is you get to have an impact," he said. "It's phenomenal the amount of growth it's had."
 

If You're Going

What: YPN 10-Year Birthday Bash

Where: Museum of Visual Materials

When: Thursday, 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

For more details: Go to the YPN Facebook page at facebook.com/siouxfallsypn