Pantini aims to provide platform for Young Professionals

The question proposed Monday evening by Wayne Pantini, executive director of Union County Development Association, was this:

How does southwest Iowa, Creston included, retain its young individuals?

Pantini, a current graduate of Leadership Iowa, asked the above question to the very demographic sitting inside Supertel Conference Center Monday, delivering a 40-minute speech about Young Professionals of Iowa — a statewide union for young professionals wanting involvement in their community.

Pantini, wanting to start High Lakes Young Professionals, a chapter of the larger group, in Creston and surrounding areas, spoke to 15 young professionals Monday.

“For this group, we want to provide a platform for young individuals to be a part of this community ... If you’ll notice, like any small town, you have the grandfathers in the community. And if you haven’t noticed, they are getting a little more gray hair and little older,” Pantini told the group. “They, understandably, don’t have the energy to do some of the things they once did. It’s our job as young professionals to create leadership and move our community forward.”

• Read more of this story in the June 16 edition of the Creston News Advertiser.