BusinessWest & Healthcare News: Business & Health Talk Podcast · Audacy

Joe Interviews Kara Bombard, president of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield

June 7, 2024·20 min·1 clip

YPS events are free for members and only $10 for non-members.

Joe Bednar starts with recognition. He congratulates Cara Bombard on joining BusinessWest's 40 Under 40 class of 2024, then uses that honor as a way into the local business conversation. Bombard takes it warmly. She says the recognition was a wonderful surprise and points to the strong work happening around Western Mass. From there, the episode shifts to YPS. Bombard explains that the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield needed new faces and fresh ideas after the pandemic made in-person networking harder. Her own timing mattered too. She was an extrovert and a new parent during that stretch, so she wanted connection and a useful way to help people gather again. YPS had real history behind it. Bombard remembers earlier events at Samuel's and big crowds from when she was in her early twenties. Things are different now. More networking groups, chambers, and nonprofits host events, so YPS has had to rethink how it brings people in. The conversation stays practical. Networking never floats off as a buzzword. Bednar and Bombard keep circling back to attendance, board energy, local businesses, and what makes people show up. Bednar gives her room to explain the background, then asks where the organization may go next. Community support stays close to the surface. The close points listeners to YPS events, membership options, sponsorship opportunities, and the organization's website. This is a local episode, and that is the appeal: a grounded look at rebuilding connection after gathering became harder.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how a local networking group is rebuilding connection after the pandemic.

This piece tracks how the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield is recalibrating after the pandemic changed how people gather and network.

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Want a grounded look at Springfield networking, leadership, and local business community building?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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