HANCOCK – The Keweenaw Young Professionals group has reached the next stage of its evolution, becoming a nonprofit group and launching a membership plan.

Despite the name, Keweenaw Young Professionals has no age limit, said president Amanda McConnon. However, the events are geared towards younger people. The group launched in 2013 by Jessica Brassard and a coworker who wanted a group to help young professionals become more involved in the community.

The steering committee reaches out to restaurants and nonprofits for locations and activity ideas, and find out from people at meetups what topics they’d like to learn about.

“We’re always open to doing something new, trying a new event, partnering with someone we haven’t partnered with before, if it fits our mission,” McConnon said.

There are several types of events. Social meetups take place every month at a different venue in the Keweenaw. The group also does volunteering efforts, including a recent Wood Chop event with Little Brothers to get wood ready for winter.

One the KYP came up with itself is an interactive murder mystery dinner, which it hosts with the Calumet Players. The event is one of its major fundraisers.

Once a quarter, KYP hosts a speaker on relevant topics such as buying a first home and the basics of investing.

The group also solicits topics at its meetups for its book club, which includes titles on professional growth, development, leadership and other topics.

Turnout is generally between 10 and 40 people for events. The e-mail list is about 300 people, McConnon said.

“There is an interest of young professionals in the area to be involved with something when it fits their schedule,” she said.

The group recently became a 501c3 nonprofit. That could give the group more access to pursue grants, which could allow it to launch bigger projects and grow its profile in the community, McConnon said. Potential projects include creating a community dog park, which McConnon said would be a long-term project.

“It’s a great gathering location for people to connect and network,” she said. “It’s not something we have in our community for people who have pets who don’t have a fenced-off area for their pets to meet other dogs.”

KYP would also like to host a conference for young professionals. The group previously led a session last year at a conference put on by 40 Below, Marquette’s group for young professionals, and Northern Michigan University.

“We think it’d be great long-term if we had the ability to pull some resources in our community to launch our own type of conference for professionals in our area,” she said.

Another idea is creating a fund for young professionals who are looking to travel to work conferences for their career development.

“Those are the ideas we’d really like to see, but we’re going to ask young professionals in the community, ‘What is it you’d like to see us develop?'” McConnon said.

KYP is introducing a $50 annual membership. Perks include being able to vote or be on the organization’s steering committee, professional and leadership development opportunities and free admission to social meetups. Previously, people were asked to make $5 donations at social meetups.

In 2014, it was decided to form a steering committee, which meets regularly to plan events and figure out the structure of the group. As a nonprofit, the group has more codified rules, including officers and term lengths.

“Some of those things are changing, which is exciting,” McConnon said.

For more information, go to the Keweenaw Young Professionals website at keweenawyp.com.