The Young Professionals Association (YPA) of Sudbury hosted its second annual jazz gala Friday evening.
Young professionals, aged from 20 to 35,  from across Greater Sudbury converged at Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario to enjoy the jazz sounds of the Tony Simpkin Trio while they networked with each other and shared their secrets of success.
The YPA - the only organization of its kind in Northern Ontario - is a not-for-profit organization devoted to young adults who are in the workforce or self-employed in sectors across the board.
Through the organization, members are presented opportunities for networking with each other and attending educational seminars on matters pertinent to the demographic.
"Our mission is to keep Sudbury young adults engaged and interested in staying in the community," said Elyse Rainville,  strategy coordinator for the YPA.
YPA  was established to help stop out-migration problem that has been an ongoing concern in Northern Ontario.
"If young adults see the opportunity to meet other people with similar objectives and in the same age category, that will help them to make the decision to stay in Sudbury"
Since its onset in November 2006, the organization has already drawn in 97 members, and according to YPA chair André Lapierre, it's gaining tremendous momentum.
"The more people I hear talking about it the more I know we're doing something right," he said. "Whether it takes a month, a year, two years or even 10 years for us to get the whole idea of the YPA to come across, it will all be worth it in the end. We need our young professionals here."
In fact, he predicted that in five years, the YPA would be bigger than anyone could imagine.
"There's been no one out there to listen to young voices and to promote our needs," Lapierre said.
 "We are a demographic that demands attention and the demographic that most companies should be targeting but they're not."
 Though the group's most valuable benefit is promoted as networking, the chair explained the YPA gives young adults a voice and the confidence to use it.
"I think the YPA offers an atmosphere where people can feel comfortable being themselves, expressing what direction they feel Sudbury should be going and what it should be offering young people," he said.
"I don't find there has been anything else in the city that has been more geared toward bringing young professionals together, keeping them interested, and giving them opportunities where they can flourish and grow."
For more information about the YPA, contact the chair at 688-7582 or online at www.ypasudbury.com .
