PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles business leaders should continue to support young professionals and use technology to market to newcomers, a panel of young professionals told a Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce audience Monday.
“Having that Web presence, even if you’re not selling things online, is very important,” said Linty Hopie, director of student development and entrepreneurship coordinator at Peninsula College.
“We Google everything first before we buy, and we know how much things cost before we come into your store.”
Hopie was part of a panel from the Peninsula Young Professionals Network, which opened a four-part series on growth at the chambers’ weekly luncheon at the Port Angeles CrabHouse Restaurant.
Brian Kuh, commercial relationship manager with First Federal in Sequim, recently moved to the area with his wife, who was born here.
“I would choose to live here if I had no other draw because of just the extraordinary area that we’re in,” Kuh said.
But when he first arrived, Kuh noticed a “vacuum, or some kind of a void of connectivity,” for young professionals. He met an outgoing couple who eventually moved to Portland, Ore., because of a struggle to get connected.
The challenge
“That, to me, encapsulated, I think, the challenge,” Kuh told chamber members.
“When I’m talking to other young professionals about their experiences they noted a similar challenge.”
Kuh co-chairs the Peninsula Young Professionals Network with Hopie, who founded the group more than a year ago.
Hopie lived in the Port Angeles area until she was 16.
“In terms of my observations, PA looked exactly the same as when I left 20 years ago,” Hopie said.
After establishing her career in Bend and Eugene, Ore., Hopie looked for work in Port Angeles for more than a year.
She said many young professionals she meets struggle with making connections and feeling like they are a part of the community.
She formed the Peninsula Young Professionals Network on Facebook, a social networking website, with no money.
“That’s something to just be aware of, using technology, using tools that are out there to solve a community issue that we found,” Hopie said.
“It’s not solving everything, but it has provided a welcoming atmosphere.
“It gives them [young professionals] a place to connect and feel like they’re a part of this community. Or for those that have lived here their whole lives and are trying to establish themselves professionally, it gives them an opportunity to make those connections.”
Returning to PA
Kate Teefy, referral manager at Crestwood Convalescent Center, said local business leaders want to see young professionals succeed.
“It makes it really welcoming to come back because we do have so much support,” said Teefy, who was born and raised in Port Angeles and returned after going to college in Bellingham.
Next week’s presentation on growth will feature business leaders Dan Abbott, Jack Harmon, Bill Hermann and George Schonefeldt.
In his introduction of the series on growth, Chamber of Commerce President Jim Hallett noted that the population of Port Angeles has remained at about 19,000 for the past 50 years.
“The census of our area is virtually the same,” Hallett said.
“You look around the state of Washington and things are a whole lot different in many communities.
“Just go down the road to Sequim and take a look at how that community has changed, for better or for worse.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
