New group to offer assistance

By TRACY RUNNEBERG Daily Freeman-Journal Staff Writer
After attending a recent Young Professional’s Conference in Sioux City, Todd Lovelace and Jon Fuhs began looking into ways they could use their newfound information to assist others in the community and improve Webster City.

Lovelace stated he’d thought about the need for a networking group for over a year, and had begun putting information together prior to the conference at the end of October. He first approached Fuhs with his ideas, and the two attended the conference. After attending the meeting, he was able to network with many young professional groups, and the president of The Young Professionals of Iowa. Afterwards the two were able to put together a clearer picture of what they wanted to do to help bring young people together.

They began with a meeting on Nov. 1, and formed a new group called Webster City HYPE, which stands for Helping Young People Engage.

“We really want to get young people involved, and to educate the community on what we want to do for the community,” Lovelace said. He added that although the group is based on a young professional theme, they don’t want people to focus on the words young or professional. Anyone in the age criteria, no matter their profession, can join, Lovelace stated.

The group’s goals are stated right in their mission statement, which reads “WC HYPE is a new dynamic group dedicated to connecting young people, ages 21-45, to numerous social and professional opportunities available in the Webster City area. WC HYPE encourages young people to build networks, exchange ideas and impact the future of Webster City. Lovelace added that other primary goals include the construction of an indoor/outdoor water park-something he considered rather lofty, but something the entire group felt would greatly improve Webster City, and providing scholarships.

The group is also planning quite a few events for local and area citizens, and are hosting a kick off of the program with a Friday after 5 event, on Friday night, at the Seneca Street Saloon. Treasurer Justin Malloy stated that the group would like to host these events on a monthly basis at different areas throughout town, to allow members a chance to meet others and network throughout the community.

Another large-scale event the group is actively working on includes a winter Olympics, which would be held in late February. Malloy added that they would also like to host seminars, motivational speakers, workshops and other educational opportunities for both members and other area residents.

“Our goals include networking-we want to engage young people in the community, and exchange ideas for things we can do to make the community a better place. We want to be the voice of young people, and continuously make strides to make Webster City a great place to live. We want to attract and retain young people in our community, and make Webster City a more inviting place to live and work,” Lovelace said, adding “We want to do big things, and really make an impact in Webster City. There is a shift in leadership, jobs, and we want to help young people get more involved. We definitely want to do new and different things for Webster City, we don’t want to change things that others do, we just want to enhance them.”

The group has asked for sponsorships to help ease the burden of start up costs, and some businesses have already come forward to assist them, including Bob Van Diest, who became their title sponsor after agreeing this would be a great endeavor, Lovelace said.

Anyone wanting more information on this group, can attend the meet and greet on Friday evening at 5 p.m. at the Seneca Saloon, located at 919 Seneca, or they can contact Todd Lovelace at 515-835-2426 or wchype@gmail.com.