Saukville Chamber program aims to connect professionals to community

The Saukville Chamber of Commerce is launching a mentoring program that will pair Chamber members with future workforce leaders.

Chamber Executive Director Mike Cosgrove said the goal of the program is to unite young professionals or people new to the area with established business professionals to offer advice, support and encouragement.

“We want to connect them with people who have been around the system and have been successful,” Cosgrove said, noting he wants to have at least 10 mentors involved. “Basically, anyone can be a mentor if they’ve been around Saukville for a while and is seen as a leader at their company.”

Cosgrove said there is a need for this type of program because studies show young professionals will likely remain in the area if they feel more connected to their community.

“It’s a good way to keep the top talent in our area. Unemployment is pretty low so we want to keep them happy and keep them here,” he said.

Planning for the program began in March and Cosgrove said he’s currently recruiting mentors and people to mentor. He said the Chamber has heard from a number of interested prospects. He plans to begin mentoring sessions in June.

“We’ve been getting a number of people who are interested in being mentors and mentees,” Cosgrove said. “Once we get a good number of mentors set in stone, we will hook them up with our mentees.”

Cosgrove said the mentorship program will begin as a one-on-one opportunity, but could eventually expand to group meetings at Chamber networking events if there are more people interested in sharing their professional experience.

“It really depends on the availability for the mentors and how many mentees we have,” Cosgrove said.

To learn more about the program, visit www.saukvillechamber.org.

“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity to retain a young and talented workforce in our area. It will help build interest in the community,” Cosgrove said. “We want as many people as we can get.”