The Young Professional Association of Chattanooga's first annual 2020 YP Summit brought city officials, community leaders, and young professionals together for an afternoon of learning and community visioning.

Over 70 people turned out for the event, signaling that there is a need in Chattanooga for this type of event.

“I think that it is clear that young professionals in this city want to make a difference,” said President Elect Tiffanie Campbell of the Summit. “Events like this give us a chance to meet face to face. We get so much done through email and social networking, but there is no substitute for learning together and talking with each other."

Attendees participated in classes and panels focused on subjects like YP Entrepreneurship and the State of the Economy. Keynote speaker Beverly Inman-Ebel spoke to the Chattanooga’s growth and to individual responsibility in growing his or her own life, as well as the life of the city.

Mayor Littlefield opened the event with a speech. The mayor thought back to his own youth in the 1960's, and the division between generations that existed then.

“I never want there to be distance between your generation and mine,” the Mayor Littlefield said to a room full of young people. “You are the City’s future and we want to be a part of your great work.”

YPAC presented Mayor Littlefield with its “Open Letter to Chattanooga,” a statement written by YPAC board members from input given by members about where the city should be by 2020.

“We need a solid foundation of sustainable economic growth and committed community action on which to build. We want activities and culture as energetic as we are,” said the letter. “We want a competitive city, a city with a progressive spirit, unafraid to pilot the best and newest technologies, businesses, and metropolitan design and infrastructure.”

The letter concludes with this message, “The time is now to come together, to share both our revenue and intellectual resources and to create a shining example of what a 21st Century Southern City can be. We invite you to join us in becoming invested and involved in the future of Chattanooga.”

The young professional community was encouraged to see that just days after the Summit, in his State of the City address, Mayor Littlefield pointed to young professionals as an “all too often overlooked asset” that he would like to see utilized.