Connecting Topsail

Making connections in the Greater Topsail area just got a lot easier.  

ALEXIS SIEBERT, a marketing assistant for Patriot Roofing & Exteriors who moved to the Hampstead area less than two years ago, was discouraged by the lack of networking and educational programs for young professionals in the Topsail area.  

As a result, Siebert recently partnered with the Greater Topsail Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism to form Topsail Young Professionals (TYP). The networking and career development group is designed to bring together individuals with backgrounds in various industries and professions and provide them with opportunities for networking, professional growth, and leadership development.  

“Our mission and goal right now is to foster networking, leadership, and mentorship,” Siebert says. “We’re thinking about how can we serve our community? Who can we connect with someone? What can we offer each other? And how can we grow the community together?”  

The organization is a group effort: Siebert is working with the chamber’s executive director, TAMMY PROCTOR, and friends JESSICA NADEAU, MARISSA MILLER, and JESSICA SOLES-MOORE, who all have varying professional backgrounds and co-founded the group with her.   

The group appears to be filling a need. TYP, which Siebert says is open to “young professionals, young businesses, and professionals young at heart,” held its inaugural meeting in September and attracted more than seventy-five attendees.    

TYP meets monthly and will offer various types of events, such as networking events, lunch and learns, open forum conversations, workshops, business mentorship events, and community service projects.   

Siebert says she expects those who become a part of TYP will experience various benefits, including business growth, guidance through mentorship, connections to service providers, and friendships.   

“It’s a tight-knit community and everyone needs to meet more people because a lot of people are transplants,” she says. “With business mentorship, there are a lot of retirees from prolific businesses who have moved down here. They know the right people and can provide valuable information. If you’re a remote worker, through this group maybe you’ll find your networking group, or maybe someone will find the realtor who is going to help them find their new house, or maybe someone will find the person who can help their parents’ financial situation. It’s about helping you grow your community.”  

Siebert says she’d like to see TYP lead to a strong community of people who know each other by name and can trust each other. She hopes the group will one day be able to offer grants to young entrepreneurs.   

Upcoming events include a pumpkin carving contest October 21 and a Lunch and Learn event November 18. More information is in TYP’s newsletter and the group’s social media pages on Facebook and Instagram.

To view more of photographer Daria Amato’s work, go to dariaphoto.com

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