MYPN Merges with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

From left to right: GMCC's vice chairperson, Preston Hunter; GMCC's president and CEO Michael Skelton, MYPN's vice co-chair Laura Gamache, and MYPN's chairperson Alexandra Horton. 

The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) and the Manchester Young Professionals Network (MYPN) announced the details of a merger between the two organizations on Nov. 14 at Pillpack, an online pharmacy in Manchester’s Millyard.

In true millennial fashion, the merger was commemorated by MYPN’s chairperson Alexandra Horton and vice co-chair Laura Gamache, and GMCC’s president and CEO Michael Skelton and vice chairperson Preston Hunter taking a selfie together, in lieu of ribbon cutting.

Skelton says that MYPN and the chamber's missions are connected, and that the new merger will allow both organizations to amalgamate their means.

“The GMCC and MYPN have a common purpose in ensuring that Manchester is a welcoming home for young professionals, whether they are looking for a job, a place to raise their family, or for a night out,” says Skelton. “This new partnership will allow the GMCC and MYPN to combine resources and take our workforce development efforts to new heights at a time when nearly every company is concerned with attracting and retaining young talent.”

MYPN’s vice co-chair says that the organization will now be able to better focus on larger projects with the assistance of the chamber.

“We’re very excited. We’re ecstatic for this new joint venture. We feel it’s going to help with a lot of the areas that we’ve struggled in for years and years,” says Gamache. “Getting us sponsorships. Keeping that continual database going. We’re volunteers, so we can only get so much done because we’re busy. So now with that backing and the strength of the chamber behind us is going to make what we’ve come here to focus on a lot easier and better.”

Due to the merger, a few new changes will transpire. MYPN will become a permanent program of the Chamber. MYPN’s board of directors will also reassemble itself as the MYPN Advisory Council and regulate the MYPN program alongside the chamber.

According to MYPN’s communications manager, Lauren Getts the merger took one year to finalize, and was made official at the end of October.