With the holidays right around the corner, many folks are rushing around wrapping up office work, meeting deadlines, buying presents and considering New Year’s resolutions. Here at Elkinite.com we’d like to share the accomplishments of Generation Randolph (of which we are a project of) this past year. As you read we intend to inspire you to join us in our mission of uniting and growing Randolph County. In joining us, we hope we can discover and enact new ideas and initiatives that can help bring together our community and make Randolph County a place where young people can dream of a future in. So please share your thoughts with us.
In 2015, Generation Randolph was led by a small board of directors who have slowly worked on goals outlined in the, “Lead the Change” Symposium held at the beginning of the year. We developed a plan to move forward with the top priorities identified: more networking opportunities, local education, and an open community wide communication platform.
The development and launch of Elkinite.com was made possible with the help of Weelunk, Digital Engine, Generation West Virginia, and support of talented volunteers and community members. Since the July 1, launch, Elkinite has become a living, breathing project that has been the main focus of Generation Randolph. This work supports part of Generation Randolph’s mission: to work to promote the region in order to attract and retain young, talented individuals to the area. Elkinte.com effectively helps our entire community share stories and we encourage everyone to be a part of creating positive change and productive discussion.
In additional to the launch of Elkinite, Generation Randolph has worked to create more networking opportunities for young professionals. We’ve hosted, “Young Talent Tuesdays,” once a month in order to bring together individuals between the age of 21-45 who care about local issues and want to make meaningful connections with others who are active in the community. Out of these networking events we’ve developed partnerships with Davis & Elkins College, and Elkins Main Street and we continue to look for additional partnerships within Randolph County. Because Generation Randolph was formed as a program under the Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce and we are also a proud supporter of local businesses and entrepreneurs.
The Elkins-Randolph County Chamber of Commerce has partnered with Generation Randolph to have educational Lunch n’ Learns throughout the year that look at topics of interest among community members ranging from healthcare to cyber security. The most recent Generation Randolph event was the November First Friday held in partnership with Elkins Main Street. We had live music, artist demos, student photography, and food for at Beander’s to wrap up the year.
A lot of what we try to do is fun, but we also want our members to think about what they are looking for in Elkins that they can’t find, what they love about Elkins, what they can do to make change in Elkins, and who they would like to connect with. Generation Randolph wants to connect young and active people in the county who want to have fun AND make a difference. Our numbers are growing and we happily have added several new members to our board of directors. However, we can’t do it alone. We need help. We need people who want to participate in the community. We need people who want to volunteer to make this a better place. We need creative and hardworking folks who want to try new ideas that will shape and sustain our community into the future.
This generation can change the course of West Virginia. Join us and share with us what we can do better to engage you so that you can become a part of Generation Randolph and begin to Grow Randolph with us. Please share with us what would get you interested in being a part of Generation West Virginia and growing Randolph.