YPN of the Quad Cities and DavenportOne’s neXt Professionals to Merge

Moline, Illinois – In an effort to create a regional approach to talent attraction and retention, the Young Professionals Network of the Quad Cities (YPN), an initiative of the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce, and DavenportOne’s neXt Professionals are uniting and will be merging into one organization to improve collaboration and represent the Quad City area with one regional effort.

All area young professionals are invited to join in the first combined YPN/neXt event Thursday, January 17, 2008 at Centre Station in downtown Moline at 5:30pm. A large celebratory event for the unveiling of the NEW young professionals’ organization is tentatively scheduled for April 3, 2008.

YPN/neXt collectively represent a network of over 2,000 young people, in their 20’s & 30’s, from the Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities from all backgrounds, professions, and lifestyles. The groups allow young professionals to explore the social, professional, and cultural opportunities throughout the Quad City region. Leadership from YPN and neXt are uniting to help connect and engage young professionals in the Quad Cities. 

One of the first tasks for the newly merged young professional organization is to undergo collaborative strategic planning to layout plans for programming and events. This strategic planning will involve merging committees and ideas from both organizations to develop the road map of YPN/neXt for years to come. Both organizations have very successful programs, and strategic planning must take into account the best methods and practices of the groups. There are many goals and benchmarks to accomplish in the coming years and to reach these goals, a well-developed plan must be put in place to see these goals become a reality.  

Tiffany Williams has been serving as the Director of YPN since July of 2007 and will continue to serve as Director for the merged organization. Excited to see the two organizations coming together, Ms. Williams commented, “A merger of neXt and YPN of the Quad Cities is exactly what is needed to truly showcase all that the Quad City community can offer a young professional.  A unified YPN will remain an important part of the Quad Cities.”

This merger is part of a larger workforce development plan for the Quad City Chamber of Commerce Federation which is comprised of the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce, DavenportOne, and the Bettendorf Chamber of Commerce. The Federation was created to help tackle common business issues and heighten the image of the Quad Cities. The merger of these two organizations shows how committed the Quad City Chamber of Commerce Federation is to helping remove duplication in the efforts of the area’s three chambers of commerce.

“The retention and attraction of young professionals to the area is vital to our region’s economic health and a top priority for the Chamber Federation. A unified young-professionals group will help retain and attract people in their 20s and 30s to the Quad Cities by offering more opportunities to build even deeper connections to the community among its members,” said Caroline Ruhl, chairperson of the Federation Board. “Young professionals who feel a strong sense of community in the Quad Cities are more likely to stay in the area. The merger is a wise decision and the Federation applauds the young-professional volunteers who worked so diligently to make this happen.”  

For more information about YPN of the Quad Cities, visit www.ypnqc.org.