Press Release
Kendrick Marshall didn’t know anyone.
He moved to Norfolk after taking a job as an employment security manager at the Nebraska Workforce Development office, but Marshall had no other connections in the area.
“I really kind of struggled to get plugged in, to meet people, to get a network of friends,” Marshall said.
Marshall’s associations with other Norfolkans eventually grew, but—especially being involved with workforce development—he sympathized with other young professionals moving to the community who had no prior business or personal connections.
Marshall said he thought that a group made up of other young professionals in Norfolk would make it easier to connect on a professional level.
So he shared the idea with Jennifer Timmerman, Kendra Barnes and Traci Nolte, and now the idea of forming a young professionals group is quickly becoming a reality.
The group—one of several popping up across the state—is currently in the planning stages in the Norfolk area, Marshall said.
It will be a multi-faceted social group that has fun, organized events, he said. It would also include a networking aspect, where people could plug in on a professional level. The group would be involved in community service efforts, too.
“We’re having fun, making connections and giving back,” Marshall said. “How we do that—we’re still formulating that.”
So far, the group hasn’t put any definitions on who is young, and professionals are defined as someone who is performing a service for their employer and receiving money for that service, Marshall said.
“That’s not saying we wouldn’t accept a member who’s independently wealthy,” Marshall added with a smile.
The group will fall under the umbrella of the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce and will work as a social arm of the Norfolk Area Recruiters, Marshall said.
“This will be another resource we can use to recruit people to the community,” Marshall said. “Not only do you have great jobs here and a great way of life, but here’s a group you can plug into that you can have some professional benefit of being a part of.”
Timmerman said she believes the group will be a huge asset to retain young professionals who have been recruited to Norfolk.
“We’re hoping that this will help aid in (newcomers) getting to know people and creating a life here, and not leaving after five years because they never connected,” she said.
Nolte, the event director for the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce, said interest is high. An e-mail sent out last week asking individuals if they would be interested received a response of 25 individuals within just a couple of hours, she said.
A strategy session, which will take place on Thursday, August 2, at Reeder Originals in Norfolk will be open for all individuals interested in the further creation and naming of the group.
Marshall said the main point of the group is to get people to have fun.
“If we aren’t having fun doing this, then we haven’t done it the way we envisioned it,” he said.
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
