Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber announced 43 members of its third
Cincy Next class earlier this month.
Based around a personal and professional development curriculum, the eight-month program targets early career young professionals working at for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations as well as entrepreneurs. Class members live and work across the Cincinnati region, and nearly half are transplants to the area.
“When you come to Cincinnati, there is access to the things you want to do and the people you want to meet that is absent in larger cities,” says Julie Bernzott, senior manager of the Chamber’s Harnessing Young Professional Energy (HYPE) programs. “You can start a business, get really involved in the community and really make a difference here. And for our size we have great amenities and great cost of living.
“Toward the end of the program we explore how class members can get more involved with the community. We usually have ArtsWave and United Way come to talk about their board training programs. And we encourage the class to think about how they can apply the skills they’ve been working on both inside and outside of work.”
Cincinnati was recently included in Forbes’ ranking of the
top 20 U.S. cities for young professionals, making programs like Cincy Next and
C-Change (for those ages 30-40 with 10 or more years of experience) important to attract and retain “creative class” professionals.
“As we considered developing a new young professional program, we held focus groups with employers to find out what was needed,” Bernzott says. “The feedback we received was that employers could teach the skills for a position but needed resources to help their employees with soft skills, like emotional intelligence, handling difficult conversations, public speaking and etiquette. Cincy Next focuses on developing the skills that we hope will help them accelerate at a faster rate in their career.”
Cincy Next targets professionals under age 30 with eight or fewer years of experience in the hopes of helping them not only further their careers but also build a network of contacts and a connection to the region that will convince them to make Cincinnati their long-term home.
“There are young professional leadership programs in many markets,” Bernzott says. “But I’m not aware of any market that’s doing two leadership programs in the way that we are. We took a wide demographic, post-college to age 40, and developed two programs that target different sets of needs. Cincinnati has robust offerings for young professionals, not just the Chamber programs but the
YWCA Rising Stars, the
Urban League leadership program and others. We’re fortunate to have a wealth of resources in that area.”
As Cincy Next continues to develop, the Chamber hopes to reach further into the entrepreneurial community to broaden the range of program participants and to provide networking and awareness-building that’s invaluable when starting a business or career.
“Cincy Next and C-Change require a significant time commitment,” Bernzott says. “It’s been difficult to get entrepreneurs involved, not because they’re not interested but because they’re so focused on growing their business.”
The costs associated with the program can also be challenging for entrepreneurs and nonprofit employees. The Chamber does offer partial grants for candidates with financial need.
Applications for the fourth class of Cincy Next will open in November and for the 12th class of C-Change in July.
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