5 Reasons a Young Professional Should Choose Rutland County

 

Written by Kimberley Rupe, President of Rutland Young Professionals

Entering the workforce can be challenging for anyone – but living in a community with opportunities busting at the seams and surrounding yourself with motivating people makes it much easier.

There can be a misconception sometimes that young professionals should start out their careers in more urban areas to advance their careers at a faster rate. However, Rutland County has proven time-and-time again that this certainly is not the case. Here are five reasons why young professionals should choose Rutland County as a place to build their careers.

Rutland Young Professionals (RYP)

RYP is an all-inclusive organization that engages, creates, and works to build social and professional networking opportunities for young professionals throughout Rutland County to help create a vibrant community. RYP’s signature program is their monthly mixes (currently held in a virtual setting) with varying speakers and activities with first-hand networking opportunities with fellow job seekers, friends, colleagues, business leaders, and hiring managers just to name a few examples. To learn more about RYP, its leadership, and additional programming, visit https://www.rutlandyoungprofessionals.org/

This Community Wants You to Succeed

Living in Rutland County, you are surrounded by people who know you on a first-name basis and have probably seen your strong worth ethic in other settings and know what you are capable of. This community of people surrounding one another is filled with kind, hard-working souls who all want one thing: a thriving community filled with happy people. To be a thriving community, it needs young professionals with lots of passion and energy. Your cheerleaders in this community are not off on the sidelines, they are right next to you.

Countless Opportunities

While this region may be rural, it certainly is not lacking in large employers with growth opportunities for individuals of all experience levels. Two of the largest employers are GE Aviation (manufacturing) and Rutland Regional Medical Center (healthcare) who are consistently hiring for professional-level jobs and are passionate about internal growth for their employees. Visit Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region’s website to learn more about some of the other large employers in the area at https://rutlandvermont.com/major-employers/

In addition to opportunities within larger employers, Rutland County is passionate about supporting small business owners, especially young professionals building a business around something they are passionate about. The VT Small Business Development Center (SBDC) offers free one-on-one business consulting support for individuals looking to start or grow their business. The MINT – Rutland’s Makerspace also serves as an innovation hub for those looking to join a community of individuals who are either starting a business or simply enjoy building things from scratch. Starting a business can be costly and can often feel very isolating. Members of The MINT are naturally joined into a network of fellow innovators sharing space, ideas, energy, and other various resources.
Visit https://rutlandmint.org/ to learn more about The MINT.

Volunteering is a Way of Life

Every single young professional in this community is involved in at least one form of volunteer experience depending on their interests and passions. In Rutland County, it is so easy to get involved and quickly feel part of the community. Volunteer opportunities range from anything such as being a mentor to a child, setting up for Friday Night Live, joining a local Rotary Club, helping at a community garden, coaching little league, and so much more. All you need to do is simply as one person you know what their volunteer world looks like and you will be quickly swept into a sea of options to give back to your community you get to call home.

“I have an Idea” turns into “Look what we Did”

Sometimes an idea can seem so far-fetched that it feels impossible – but not here. Residents here have seen first-hand how quickly a simple conversation with someone sharing a random thought or idea that they had can turn into an amazing community-wide interest, event, fundraiser, or whatever sparks.

For example, a few years ago one of the owners of Carpenter & Costin said he wished there were more for kids and families to do during the February week to keep them busy, outside, and staying safe. Before anybody could blink there was a committee formed to host various events and activities for kids and families of all sizes and ages. A few years later, our community has a week filled with activities every year for February break ranging from snowshoeing, snow sculpting contests, winter dance, movies, closing the main street for sledding, and so much more. Learn more about Winterfest at https://www.rutlandrec.com/winterfest

And to think that it all started with an idea shared with a group of friends.

While Rutland County may not be considered an urban area, opportunities for employment growth, networking, volunteering, and endless ideas are in every single corner of this region. Our young professionals who have chosen to build their lives here are dedicated, passionate, thriving, and proud to call this place home.