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YP Spotlight : Year in Review

Name: Alex Bell
Age: 28
Title: President, Waco YPs;
Assistant District Attorney

During the last year, it has been my pleasure to serve as the president of the Waco Young Professionals Board of Directors. I have had the opportunity to meet new young professionals moving into our community on a regular basis who are excited and invested in Greater Waco’s future. As I reflect on my year as president, I am both pleased with our successes and excited for the future.
We had a great year in 2012. For the first time, the YPs fielded a fund-raising team for the Chamber’s Total Resources Campaign. We’ve also seen great support for the YP program from our annual sponsors, ExtracoBanks, Baylor University, McLennan Community College and Providence Healthcare Network, as well as new sponsors like L-3 Platform Integration. This year also saw our first networking social between YPs and the Chamber Board members, a wonderful event that we hope to make into an annual affair. While we have had a great year, two changes for the YPs next year have me excited for the future:
1) The Young Professionals Summit
What I am most excited about is our first foray into regional leadership—the YP summit planned for May 17, 2013. The goal of the summit is to bring together young professionals from the Central Texas area, including Temple, Belton, Killeen and Hillsboro to strengthen the bonds of our regional economic network. Our keynote speaker is Evan Smith of TexasTribune.org. Panel discussions will involve industry experts, and educational programs will span the day-long summit at the Waco Convention Center.
In order to make this a successful event, we need your support! Please encourage your young professionals to attend the day-long summit. They will return to you educated on regional economic issues after meeting their peers from the surrounding areas. The investment you make by providing them with the time to attend the summit will definitely be worthwhile.
2) A new regular meeting time
It is never easy to decide how to best serve our membership—or when to do it. The demands of a young career preclude a wide consensus on the best time or day to meet. We have worked to provide a full schedule of events, including lunch, after work and evening programs, so that all young professionals have a chance to participate and benefit from the program. From our evening meetings, to our popular professional development lunches and networking socials, we have seen attendance rise this year. We hope to continue this strong trend into the next YP year.
In response to a survey of our membership, our regular meetings will now be during the lunch hour. We are making efforts to get this message out early and often, so the YPs can hit the ground running in January. What I would like to ask of all Chamber members is that you encourage your young professionals to attend our regular monthly lunch meetings and that you make the minor accommodations it would take for them to attend. In return, we will provide educational and networking opportunities that will put them at the heart of Waco’s business community.
As I hand the reins over to next year’s president, Marilee Marks Kahler, I know the group is in great hands. Marilee is a great leader who understands young professionals and the local community and shares our collective vision of what our future as Greater Waco can be. If the young professionals are any indication of what our future as a community holds, then as they say… the best is yet to come.

Waco-Temple-Bryan ranked No. 3 for standout credit scores

Waco-Temple-Bryan is ranked No. 3 on MSN Money’s list of 10 standout cities for credit scores. The analysis is derived from Experian’s 2012 State of Credit report and the cities were ranked by credit score change since 2007.

YP Spotlight: Leadership

Name:  Rachel Tierce Pechacek
Age:  33
Title:  Assistant Vice President, Commercial Banker
Company:  Extraco Banks
Location:  1700 Valley Mills Drive, Waco, Texas 76710
About Company:  Our Mission: To touch lives building secure financial futures and long-term profitable relationships.™
Exporters and Traders Compress & Warehouse Company began its cotton compress and warehousing business in Waco on July 12, 1902. Today, the company has evolved into the largest and most comprehensive independent financial institution headquartered in Central Texas. Extraco (an acronym for Exporters and Traders Compress) exceeds $1 billion in assets, enjoys 150,000 customers in 26 locations, participates in hundreds of volunteer community leadership roles and, most importantly, employs more than 400 Central Texans.
In the industry since:  2004
In your position since:  2008

What do you enjoy about your job?
I enjoy assisting my customers with bringing their ideas and goals to fruition and then sharing and celebrating in their successes. Working within a family-owned, community bank whose mission is relationship-centric fosters the development of interactions deeper than just closing loans and collecting payments. I take pleasure in serving a broad spectrum of roles for my customers including those as financial counselor, a sounding-board for ideas, a business plan editor, a referral source for everything from a good insurance provider to a good tailor and sometimes as a near-miracle worker when it comes to aligning the right external resources (whether it be grants, the SBA, Community Development Corp. support or others) to make what may seem to be an un-bankable deal bankable. I have had customers joke that I know everything about them from their bank account balances to their kids’ birthdays to their shoe size. At the end of the day, we have formed a mutually beneficial relationship with vested interests in each other’s accomplishments, which is very rewarding.

Are you involved in any industry or community associations?
Yes, I currently serve as treasurer on the Board of the Waco Family Abuse Center and recently rolled off the Board of Compassion Ministries, both of which I was introduced to through my involvement in the Chamber’s Leadership Waco Program (Class XXV). I am very passionate about the missions of both of these organizations and felt compelled to become involved in whatever capacity I could to support their cause. I have taught financial literacy and credit courses through the NeighborWorks program and look forward to doing more of that in the near future. I have also served on the Board of the Waco Young Professionals (an ongoing member) and am active in the Chamber’s Total Resource Campaign.

Does your social life take a toll in a leadership position?
I would be lying if I said no altogether, but it has not been a detrimental impact. I may not spend as much time with my friends as I used to, get out to the golf course as frequently as I would like or make it to every barn dance at my children’s school, but I think I have found a nice balance between everything. I am blessed with a good support system at home and within my extended family. My husband and children understand that if I am away from them at a board meeting, a banquet or another function, it is either to maintain or enhance our family’s well being or for a cause that is near and dear to my heart.

What does leadership (in your company and the community) mean to you?
In my opinion, leadership will make or break a company or an organization. Extraco has been around for more than a hundred years, so clearly they have had the right leaders in place. I think it also means creating a culture conducive to building future leaders by providing opportunities for ongoing training, education and investing in its people so that the organization remains innovative and its practices do not become obsolete.

What advice would you give to young individuals planning to enter your industry?
I would advise those interested in joining the banking industry to be prepared for change. Not all deals are cookie-cutter and, even if they are, they may not be tomorrow. Customers’ financial positions and goals are continuously changing, the regulatory environment is in a constant state of motion and the competitive environment constantly changes to react to these aforementioned movements. You have to take the initiative to study the external environment (i.e. “external mastery”) to determine how these changes will affect your customers or your way of doing business, so that you can be proactive instead of reactive…lead change instead of reacting to it.

How will your generation change this industry?
My generation has already changed the banking industry, just as the following generations will continue to do in the future. As I mentioned above about being prepared for change, the way people bank today is completely different from how they banked 10 years ago or even one year ago for that matter, and to remain relevant in the industry you have to lead that change. Our generation expects things to be done with immediate and real-time service. As such, we can now do our banking 24 hours a day, at home in our pajamas on our laptops or smart phones, at an iTM (intelligent teller machine) or a dozen different ways without ever coming in contact with an individual.

How can the community attract and retain young professionals?
I think the community could attract and retain young professionals by providing more opportunities for them to get involved or to connect with a cause through programs such as Leadership Waco and the Waco Young Professionals. Furthermore, the Chamber does a great job of promoting a variety of industries and businesses with its Work in Waco Expo every year, and the continued development of the downtown area and riverfront creates a more attractive social environment for them.

What advice do you have for people seeking leadership opportunities in this community?
Make sure you are passionate about the cause you are committing to lead. Just because the opportunity is available and you have been asked to serve does not mean that you have to accept it, or that it is the right fit for your skill sets. Your heart has to be in it in order to be successful in fulfilling a leadership role, and it is not fair to you or the organization if you are not 100% committed to the cause. An abundance of organizations in our community that you can choose from need good leaders and you can make a difference within.

This article originally appeared in the third quarter 2012 Waco Chamber & Business Quarterly Magazine. Click to view the full issue online.

YP Spotlight: Non-Profits

Name:  Leah Gorham
Age:  29
Title:  Youth Services Specialist II
CompanySTARRY Counseling
Location:  6801 Sanger Ave. Ste 190, Waco, Texas 76710
About Company:  STARRY has been a non-profit agency since 2001 and is affiliated with Children at Heart Ministries in Round Rock. STARRY Counseling has been in Waco since the fall of 2009, with other offices in Temple and Round Rock.
In the industry since:  2005
In your position since:  2009

Why the non-profit industry?
I enjoy working in the non-profit industry because of the services we provide and knowing we are truly helping families in need. STARRY provides free counseling to children and families as part of a state contract. We also educate, protect and promote healthy families in hopes to reduce child abuse in Texas. I appreciate working with people and making a difference in their lives.

Are you involved in any non-profit industry associations?
I am currently a member of the Heart of Texas Counseling Association that brings counselors, social workers and other therapists together.

Does your social life take a toll?
Working in non-profit, especially in helping professions, can be taxing as it occasionally involves long hours while not making a large salary. Like many professionals, I have learned to balance work and life by becoming involved in other activities such as my church small group and the Waco Swing Dance Society.

What do you like best about your work?
I know I have mentioned this before, but I truly love working with the families. When you can help them reach their goals and they are communicating more effectively with one another, I know they can reach success for life.

What advice would you give to young individuals planning to enter the non-profit industry?
If you want to earn lots of money, non-profit work is not for you. However, if you love helping others, then working in a non-profit can be enriching and fulfilling.

How will your generation change the non-profit industry?
Many individuals of my generation are seeking occupations that are passionate about their mission and fulfill it. My generation does not always look at the bottom line, but rather “Am I or the company making a difference? How can the non-profit industry attract and retain young professionals?”

By offering a good work environment in addition to involving others who are passionate about the services they may provide to others.

What advice do you have for people trying to get a job in this business?
I would recommend volunteering when possible. Shadowing or interviewing a professional in the field is also ideal as you can gain knowledge about what day-to-day life is like.

This article originally appeared in the first quarter 2012 Waco Chamber & Business Quarterly Magazine. Click to view the full issue online.

YP Spotlight: Attracting Talent

Name:  Chad Dunnam
Age:  26
Title:  Talent Acquisition Manager
Company:  Mars Chocolate North America
Location:  Waco, Texas • Las Vegas, Nev. • Topeka Kan.
In the talent recruiting business since: 2009

Why talent recruiting?
I quickly realized the value of talent recruiting when I was in operations. It was there I had a yearning to make my team better from a leadership and technical standpoint. To do this, it all started with attracting the right talent that fit from a technical and cultural standpoint. When you can attract and retain the desired talent, training and development can become faster and more effective.   However, my passion has centered on getting the right talent in from the start.

Does your social life take a toll?
It can at times, but I don’t believe this is exclusively tied to my profession. Being involved in the community and recently finishing my graduate program in Human Resources has contributed to that as well.

What do you like best about your work?
I love talent and watching the talent grow and develop. It is very rewarding to know I am in a place to contribute to the continued growth and success of a world-class organization. From the individual, team and organizational level, I love watching the results talent can achieve.

What advice would you give to young individuals planning to get involved in the talent recruiting business?
Become as multifaceted with talent acquisition as you can be and never stop networking.

How will your generation change talent recruiting?
From my perception, this generation is becoming more proactive. Instead of utilizing job boards and the “post and pray” mentality to recruiting, this generation is utilizing local, industry and LinkedIn networks to continually source talent and build a talent pipeline.

How can the confectionery industry attract and retain young professionals?
Employer branding and total rewards are effective. Employer branding is a big one. Similar to sales where a salesperson is probably more effective at selling when they believe in what they sell, essentially, one finds more reward and comfort when you believe in a company and how it brands itself. What attracted me to Mars Inc. initially were the principles of the company, the culture and brands.

In regards to total rewards, I don’t mean just competitive compensation, benefits and retirement. I believe this generation values a depth of other rewards previous generations may not have been concerned with.

For instance, flex-time may be an incentive to attract young professionals everywhere, not just within the confectionery industry. However, I believe the confectionery industry lags compared to other industries and this remains an opportunity for many to become the first movers to flex-time.

What advice do you have for people trying to get a job in this business?
Get to know many other facets of human resources. Talent acquisition encompasses a variety of HR functions, including but not limited to employer branding, tactful and strategic sourcing, compliance and hiring standards and candidate assessments.

This article originally appeared in the second quarter 2012 Waco Chamber & Business Quarterly Magazine. Click to view the full issue online.