A Snapshot of Our YPN Members

RBC YPN 2012 SurveyWe at the Regional Business Council recently surveyed our 1200 Young Professional Network members. We conducted this survey to better understand who our members are and how they perceive the St. Louis region.

We know how talented and driven our members are so there weren’t many surprises in the survey data for us.  Even so, we suspect that many people in the St. Louis area don’t know how amazing our YPN members are and we feel that it is our duty to get the word out about them.  This is the reason we produced the survey and publish the results.

Here are a few highlights of the survey results that we feel tell the story of our YPN members.

Education
YPN members are incredibly well educated. An overwhelming majority (94%) has at least a bachelor’s degree.  45% has a bachelor’s degree. Another 39% has gone on to pursue a graduate degree and 10% has completed post-graduate studies. The St. Louis RCGA reports that 29% of people over the age of 25 in St. Louis have at least a bachelor’s degree, which is above the national average.  We don’t know of too many other professional networking groups that can boast these kinds of numbers.

St. Louis is Home
A majority of our members (51%) reported that they plan to live in St. Louis for at least the next 5 years.  They love the city and think it is a great place to live now and to raise a family later.  Top reasons cited for wanting to stay in St. Louis included: job opportunities, leadership opportunities within their companies, affordability and the family-friendly community.

YPN Membership
So why do so many well-educated professionals who are passionate about St. Louis join the RBC’s YPN?  The number one reason cited in the survey was the opportunity to meet other young professionals.  Our members genuinely want to meet new people and foster deep relationships.  They want to make new business connections and also see the YPN as an opportunity to meet company executives and community leaders.

We are really proud of our members and are always looking for quality young professionals to join our ranks.  Do you believe that you would be a good fit?  Sign up for our monthly newsletter and join us for our next event.

Kathy