It happened, as so many great ideas happen, when they least expected it. They were just four friends standing around shooting the breeze and complaining about the lack of cohesion in Harrisburg’s young professionals. Finally, somebody got tired of hearing the complaints and said, “Okay, so put up or shut up and do something about it.” A profound silence descended, the kind of hush reserved for holy places and that infinite moment in time before the gates fall and the race is on. It was the silence of four people simultaneously making the leap from jaded bystanders to proselytizing believers. Destiny had come a-knocking.

Okay, okay. So maybe it didn’t happen quite like that. There may not have been a pregnant silence. There may not have been silence at all. Maybe I'm just being dramatic, but the point is, The “Founding Four”: J. Alex Hartzler, Eric Morrison, Patty Schwab and Reyne Gillin, have taken a hard look at themselves and Harrisburg and have decided to step up to the plate and become a driving force in the revitalization of Harrisburg as a city of interest.

Together, they’ve formed the Harrisburg Young Professionals Organization (HYP – pronounced ‘hip’ (of course)). And, since it’s inception only a few short months ago, membership has taken off like a house afire. According to Alex Hartzler, Esq., of Buchanon Ingersoll, and current President of HYP, the Mission Statement for the organization is “To serve as both a formal networking organization for (the local under 35 yr old) peer group where we can build lasting friendships and business relationships, as well as to serve as a catalyst for the advancement of progress toward making Harrisburg a more enjoyable and vibrantly exciting place to live and work”. Now, what all that means is that the HYP’s have become tired of hearing what a dull place Harrisburg is to live and they are dedicated to not only informing people of all the wonderful attributes the city currently has; but to pushing the downtown area into realizing and fulfilling its own potential. Hartzler stated three basic goals for the organization: 1. Social networking; 2. Business networking; and 3. Economic development and revitalization.

According to Eric Morrison, Esq. of Smigel, Anderson & Sachs, Vice President of HYP, he grew tired of having all his friends leave the area looking for more exciting job opportunities and living venues. He returned from college to find everyone gone. Greg Rothman of Rothman, Schubert & Reed Realtors, also cited a similar complaint and stated he found it “distressing when he heard Harrisburg referred to as boring. Harrisburg should be the epicenter of activity” but most people miss the boat completely when they think about what Harrisburg has to offer those who live here. Things such as “Artsfest”, “City Island”, a “great quality of life” and, most especially, the “people” were some of the reasons heard repeatedly from this vibrant group of individuals.

HYP had its members complete a survey at a recent meeting and the results were entitled “Your Harrisburg Wish List”. Some of the things that HYP members thought were needed in downtown Harrisburg to start it on its way to a social and business hub were: a major chain super bookstore; retail clothing shops such as Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Armani Exchange, J. Crew, Macy’s, etc.; a coffeehouse, with Starbucks leading the pack; a music store such as Tower Records, a huge mega-screen movie theater; a night club (all votes being for a Swing/Jazz dance place as opposed to alternative music) catering towards young professionals; and several other things like restaurants, a grocery store (having lived in downtown Harrisburg, I would definitely vote for that one) and various retail stores. I even overheard a comment that the city should block off either Second or Third Street several nights a week and turn the downtown into a pedestrian mall with many outdoor cafes and shops that actually stay open after 5:00 p.m.

When asked how they planned to make these things happen, Hartzler stated that at the moment they’re simply concentrating on getting HYP up and running. Ideally, Hartzler wants to draw a few interested developers into their organization who share their vision of a more vibrant downtown Harrisburg. Although, in the future, he stated, that HYP could as a collective “buy some buildings in the appropriate area and do the developing ourselves.” But, for right now, it’s enough to get word out about their organization, flesh out their membership rolls and start finding out just exactly what the member’s consensus is on what they truly want from Harrisburg. Once they’ve established that, they can move on to the in some ways easier task of actually getting things done, it being hard to wrestle hundreds of eagerly offered suggestions into some kind of coherent plan.

For those interested in joining HYP, the organization will serve as a non-profit corporation and will include locally employed people under thirty-five years of age. But, for those of you over thirty-five, you don’t need to feel left out. Hartzler assured me that they’re not going to be sticklers about the age limit. They decided to set thirty-five and under as a limit mostly for the board members “to keep someone from sitting on the board for years and preventing fresh vision and ‘young blood’ from bringing their needed influx of new ideas”.

Each member of HYP will be required to serve on at least one internal committee as well as one external committee or the board of a charitable and/or community-based organization. New members will have a maximum of six months to join an external committee. Committees include the Social committee that sets up the monthly mixer held at a different downtown Harrisburg business place as well as other promotional networking functions. The Social committee also contains the committees for Nominating and Membership. There is an Outreach program that promotes HYP’s goals and mission and also helps HYP members into roles of community leadership. There is also a Business/Economic committee that will work on promoting downtown business, attracting franchises and helping existing businesses with relocation and the building of business networks.

Announcements will be made each month as to where the social mixer will be held and those interested in joining should simply show up. June’s is being held at Scotts Bar & Grill on the 24th. There will be someone there ready, willing and able to sign you up as a HYP member.

So, if you’re tired of hearing people say how boring a place Harrisburg is to live and you’re tired of all your friends moving away, do something about it. Join the Harrisburg Young Professionals and help them jumpstart downtown Harrisburg into the vital, energetic, exciting, fabulous place we all know it can be. Then, you’ll be the one all your friends envy for living in such a hot spot as Harrisburg, PA.