Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 20, 2016 3A
Next gen leaders mingle at Young Pros Station 40 to
get cleaned up
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — More than 20
professionals gathered at
Wells Fargo Bank on Thurs-
day evening with the goal of
inspiring Polk County’s next
generation of leaders.
Jeremey Santee-Malloy
began working in Dallas two
years ago. He quickly be-
came involved with the Dal-
las Rotary Club and the
Chamber of Commerce, but
noticed a trend.
“I didn’t see a lot of leader-
ship in the younger millenni-
als or even anyone in their
mid-40s,” he said. “I thought
about what we could do to
bring that generation, my
generation, together.”
Santee-Malloy met with
Monica Johnson, Operations
Manager at Citizens Bank in
Dallas, when the idea of cre-
ating the Young Professionals
was born. The idea was sim-
ple — gather together a col-
lection of the county’s young
business people with varied
backgrounds and give them
a forum to network.
“I hope they get to know
someone they’ve never met
before,” Santee-Malloy said.
“I hope that when they leave,
that’s someone they can do
business with, whether it’s
today, tomorrow or a week
from now. I know we’ve re-
ceived business from indi-
viduals here and given busi-
ness to many individuals.”
The group, which is spon-
sored by the Dallas Chamber
of Commerce, held an initial
meeting in November of 2014.
The next several months were
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
The Polk County Young Professionals gives people a chance to network and identify
those who may be interested in becoming community leaders.
Young Professionals
• The Polk County Young Professionals meets the second
Thursday of each month. There is no cost to attend meet-
ings.
• For more information: Jeremey Santee-Malloy, jsan-
tee@citizensEbank.com
spent working out the details.
“It took a little time be-
cause we thought how are
we going to fund this?” San-
tee-Malloy said. “How do we
convince people to host? Do
we charge people?”
They settled on sponsor-
ships.
The group, which meets
the second Tuesday of each
month, got off to a successful
start, averaging about 12 peo-
ple during the first year in
2015, Santee-Malloy said.
Then, a hurdle came.
“We had an event that six
people came to, the majority
Dallas Lions Club’s 8th Annual
Start at Levens St. Bridge - Finish at Main St. Bridge
Saturday
July 30 • 2:30 pm
Tickets
2
$
PER
DUCK
9 prizes valued at $100+
#8
Tickets sold at Courtyard Coffee,
Postal Connections and from any
Lions Club member. Also sold at
Wal-Mart on Saturdays in July.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sponsors include:
Home Comfort Inc.
Rickreall Bargain Center
Dallas Auto Center
Center Market #2
Dallas Glass
Dallas Animal Clinic
All proceeds for service projects.
of which were committee
members,” Santee-Malloy
said. “I instantly said we
can’t sustain this. People
aren’t going to want to host
if they have five people they
are entertaining. We reached
out to people we already
met, and asked them if
they’re going to come, and
in November of last year, we
had the most people we’ve
ever had, about 35.”
Yo u n g P r o f e s s i o n a l s
meets at a different business
each month with different
activities planned.
“If you get the same peo-
ple at the same event
enough times, they’re going
to get tired of coming,” San-
tee-Malloy said.
Thursday’s meeting fea-
tured snacks and drinks, a
tour of Wells Fargo bank, a
game of “Would you rather,”
drawings for prizes and a
chance to mingle and meet.
Santee-Malloy hopes to
see the meetings offer more
going forward.
“In the next couple of
years, I’d like to start taking
on an educational piece for
professionals in order for
them to build their career
and become more mar-
ketable, whether that’s
learning to budget better,
use Quickbooks more effi-
ciently or how to market
yourself,” Santee-Malloy
said. “We want to adapt to
what everyone desires.”
INDEPENDENCE —
Polk County Fire District
No. 1 has temporarily
closed Buena Vista Station
40 for lack of volunteers
from that area.
Two residents of Buena
Vista attended Thursday’s
fire board meeting to dis-
cuss issues with the sta-
tion’s appearance and at-
tempts to keep the doors to
Station 40 open.
Resident Charles Prouty
said the weeds have gotten
out of control around the
building.
“Summertime’s here,” he
said. “You’ve got a burn
ban. If you have someone
drive by and flick a ciga-
rette out, that place would
be in smoke.”
Prouty said that the district
should keep it cleaned up.
“Make it look like a viable
station to volunteer,” he said.
Resident Pamela Venegas
said that three young fire-
fighter volunteers were up
late making noise and lis-
tening to loud music on
July 6.
“I was one who pushed
for sleepers at Station 40,”
she said. “… but if this is
the judgement they’re
going to use, I agree: Station
40 shouldn’t have sleepers.”
Interim fire chief Neal
Olson said putting resi-
dents out at Station 40 was
one of the ideas discussed
to help increase interest
and recruit volunteers.
“We want the doors open
and to draw attention, un-
fortunately we started
drawing attention too early
in the morning,” Olson said
of the July 6 incident.
He said upon further in-
vestigation, Station 40 was
never meant for firefighters
to reside in, and so he was
scrapping the idea of put-
ting people in the station
overnight.
As for the weeds, board
chair Tom Snair asked how
other rural stations were
cared for, namely Airlie and
Pedee stations.
Olson said that neigh-
bors come and mow as a
service to the community,
or clean up weeds that may
sprout around the property.
He said he would take
care of the weeds at Station
40, and that one of the paid
firefighters would be in
Buena Vista more often to
keep the doors open, en-
gage the community and
hopefully get some people
interested in volunteering.
West Valley Housing Authority will hold their
Work Session Meeting on Thursday July 28,
2016 beginning at 11:30 a.m. at 204 SW Wal-
nut in Dallas, Oregon. The Regular Meeting
will be held on Thursday July 28, 2016 at
1:00 p.m. at 204 SW Walnut in Dallas, Ore-
gon. An Executive Session pursuant to
ORS 192.660 will be held immediately fol-
lowing the Regular Meeting, if required.
Agenda for the meeting is posted on the Hous-
ing Authority website at www.wvpha.org. The lo-
cation for the meeting is handicapped
accessible. Please advise the West Valley
Housing Authority if you need any special ac-
commodations to attend the meeting. For in-
formation, please call 503-623-8387, TDD
1-800-735-2900.
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