Momentum Aroostook, MMG Insurance, and the University of Maine at Presque Isle are pleased to announce that nominations are now open for the sixth annual Young Professionals Institute, running this year on Tuesdays from March 5 to April 30. The online nomination/application form is available at www.umpi.edu/ypi. The nomination deadline is Monday, Feb. 11.
The Institute provides the area’s young professionals with a one-of-a-kind leadership opportunity – an 8-week professional development short course designed specifically for emerging leaders looking to refine the skills that will bring them long-term success in their careers. Participants hone their professional skills through hands-on activities, on-the-spot public speaking assignments, and business simulation exercises. Along the way, participants visit local businesses and organizations to complete on-site assignments and hear presentations by embedded guests from the public and private sectors. The Institute culminates in a showcase presentation before area business and community leaders and past YPI graduates.
“Professional development is one of our primary focus areas, so we are excited to once again be a part of the Young Professionals Institute,” Kari Wells-Puckett, Momentum Aroostook steering committee chair, said. “Over the last five years of YPI, we have helped to provide people who are young in their careers with some excellent leadership development opportunities and this year is no different. We will have another great course full of activities for our participants and we look forward to getting them on board and starting the classes.”
This year’s Institute will focus on the workplace of the future and the skills employers are looking for in prospective employees and candidates for advancement – including innovation, team work, communication, decision-making, and prioritization. Participants will work together to tackle new assignments each week focused on these skills areas.
During the short course, participants will take part in role-playing scenarios that refine their abilities to pitch proposals and deliver presentations, conduct mock interviews that give them experience in working with the media, and network with local officials and statewide leaders. A special component of the Institute this year is an exchange event that will take participants to The Aroostook Medical Center and Cary Medical Center. The event will provide participants with the opportunity to network and give a short presentation on what they’ve learned to business leaders from throughout the region.
“We are so pleased to see YPI enter its sixth year,” said Carolyn Dorsey, UMPI coordinator for the Institute. “The rapidly changing pace of our complex organizations makes this year’s theme, ‘Navigating the Workplace of the Future,’ extremely timely and valuable. The YPI model is a tremendous example of how educators, representatives from the public and private sector, and area residents can collaborate to provide affordable, local leadership development opportunities. We are looking forward to another action-packed Institute that will enhance and showcase the talents of area emerging leaders.”
The Institute will be facilitated by University officials, members of Momentum Aroostook, several local business and community leaders, and the graduates of past Young Professionals Institutes. Previous sponsors of YPI participants include Acadia Health Education Coalition, ACE Rent-A-Car, Aroostook County Action Program/Healthy Aroostook, The Aroostook Medical Center, Barresi Financial, Cary Medical Center, The County Federal Credit Union, DFAS-Limestone, Dunleavy Law Offices, F.A. Peabody Co., Farm Credit of Maine, Katahdin Trust Company, K-Pel Industrial Services, Inc., Loring Job Corps Center, Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community, MMG Insurance, Northern Maine Community College, Northern Prosthetics, Rathbun Lumber Company, Ryan’s Heart, S.W. Collins, United Insurance, University of Maine at Presque Isle, and WAGM-TV.
“MMG is pleased to be involved with YPI again in 2013 with both our corporate support and the participation of several of our young professionals,” said Matt McHatten, MMG Chief Operating Officer. “We continue to be impressed by YPI’s impact on those who participate in particular in areas important to professional growth and leadership. The expanded component of business simulation exercises promises to keep the program dynamic and will definitely add to the overall experience-based learning strategy.”
There are only 14 seats available for YPI 6. Professionals interested in taking the course must submit their name for nomination or have their business employer nominate them. The nomination deadline is Monday, Feb. 11. Selections will be announced Monday, Feb. 18. A $150 registration fee, paid by course participants or their business sponsors, is due by Monday, March 4.
This year’s YPI sessions will be held on March 5, 12, 19 and 26, and April 2, 9, 23, and 30. Most sessions will be held on Tuesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Alumni Room of UMPI’s Campus Center. However, class time will be expanded from 4-7 p.m. on April 30 and potentially on one other date.
For more information about the short course, which is not being offered for academic credit, please visit www.umpi.edu/ypi or contact Linda McLaughlin in UMPI’s College of Professional Programs at 207-768-9740 or e-mail linda.mclaughlin1@maine.edu.