Pierre Young Professionals Kick Off Event Draws Huge Crowd

 

For Immediate Release: Friday, March 7, 2008

 

PIERRE – More than 200 young professionals in Pierre gathered at the Painter’s Palette on South Pierre Street last night to kick off the new group Pierre Young Professionals. But the party didn’t stay at the Palette for long – the huge crowd was bursting at the seams and moved across the street to the basement of the Grand Opera House to accommodate the multitude of people.

 

The kick off event, sponsored by the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce, offered the opportunity for young people to come together and meet new people their age. “The laid back setting provided a great atmosphere to branch out and get to know people around town you’ve never met before,” said Brooke Bohnenkamp, one of the event’s organizers. “The response last night gives the group a lot of positive energy moving forward.”

 

The group’s mission is to make Pierre the kind of community where young professionals want to live and work. “Now that we’ve broken the ice, we need to focus on our next meeting on March 20 where we’ll dig into the structure of PYP and make some important decisions about where the group will go from here,” said Sarah Van Berkum, PYP coordinator. “We want to keep the focus on giving young people the chance to socialize, but we also want to enhance that with volunteer and professional development opportunities. This group could be a great network to support existing volunteer opportunities in our community, rather than competing for more precious volunteer hours.”

 

“The turnout was amazing. Young people came out of the woodwork for this event. There were so many faces in the crowd that I had never seen before – it was a great opportunity to make new friends and connections in Pierre,” said Aftin Eich, another young person involved in organizing the event.

 

The next Pierre Young Professionals meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at 109 S Pierre St. in the basement of the Grand Opera House (alley entrance). At that meeting, PYP will establish sub-committees and establish the structure of the group. Anyone who couldn’t attend the March 6 kick-off but is still interested in PYP is encouraged to attend.

Other sponsors of the event included Dakotamart, Main Street Market, Korner Grocery, and Dishes. Jim Szana and Lonnie Schumacher provided live music at Painter’s Palette.

 

For more information on PYP email contact@pierreyoungprofessionals.com.

Additional PYP contacts:

Sarah Van Berkum - sarah@pierreyoungprofessionals.com
Brooke Bohnenkamp – brooke@pierreyoungprofessionals.com
Aftin Eich – aftin@pierreyoungprofessionals.com