By Eric Baxter
Editor

Manchester’s “renaissance” is an accurate, but overused term. It speaks to a decade of change that saw the city shift from a small town with big town problems and no amenities, to a thriving and growing community.

The changes, however, didn’t happen overnight. They were prompted by demographics, the economy, and perception of a Manchester that might be. It was that last particular factor, combined in part with the fi rst two, which may transition the Queen city from a Renaissance into a Golden Age. But it will take work, vision, and most of all, young blood.

Leading the way in creating the city’s new future is the Manchester Young Professionals Network. The network was created a year and a half ago by 10 concerned young up-and-comers.

They worked in different industries, in different parts of the city, but had the same general goal – to meet people their own age, network, get ahead, and have a good time at it if possible. This was not a new idea, so the group was uncertain about how it would be received.

“The majority thought there was great value in meeting, and networking, and knowing people in the business community,” said MYPN president Stephanie McLaughlin. McLaughlin, 34, is now director of client development for Manchester’s Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green, but was assistant publisher of BusinessNH magaziine when the group first started.

Their first meeting brought in more than 100 interested young men and women, and the group grew from there. Today, there are more than 1,000 members from all walks of life in the greater Manchester area, all younger than 40 years old. And this demographic is destined to become the city’s new crop of leaders.

Peter Francese, director of demographic forecasts for New England Economic Partnership, a nonprofit think tank studying the wide variables affecting regional and specific economies and businesses, has argued the city’s economic success has come in large part from the young people moving to the city. Manchester is bucking a youth-drain trend where, between 2000 and 2004, more than 16,000 people between 25 and 44 left the state.

Part of this reason is within recent years, many of the border communities, and towns farther a field, have bought up developable land, established growth moratoriums, set minimum lot sizes to two, three, or more acres, and what housing is let in is age restricted to older people.

The end result is high housing prices, a small amount of housing stock, and prices that drive away younger people, who also constitute the reason why businesses may want to locate there.

Francese said the end result of these activities for the towns outside Manchester is to slow the growth down. He said growth was now 1 percent a year, and he expected it would drop to .5 percent per year in the next decade.

“Add slowing growth to an aging population (in the areas outside the city), and it has a negative economic impact.

The labor force is leaving the state, and not only to find an affordable place to live,” said Francese.

Manchester, partially by luck, and partially by plan, has taken the opposite tack from surrounding communities.

The result is a robust economy. Housing is in short, but not dire, supply. There are still affordable apartments, and some homes. Therefore a larger labor supply has remained, businesses are attracted, and opportunities arise for people to create, and take advantage of, economic opportunities. Manchester, said Francese, is also interesting enough to attract and keep younger people.

The Young Professionals Network is helping spur that interest. Monthly networking sessions, special events and successful fundraisers have made both newer and more established businesses sit up and take notice, and add their knowledge to the growing group.

In January, the group fielded an entrepreneurship seminar that drew former Gov. Craig Benson out of seclusion to talk about growing a business. In March, a forum on leadership brought Highpoint Communications founder Laura Monica, and Manchester Monarchs president Jeff Eisenberg, to the podium.

“It taught people to step up, without stepping on,” said MYPN member Gray Chynoweth.

Chynoweth, 27, an associate with Sheehan, Phinney, Bass + Green, said seminars like this encourage members, and nonmembers, to take a chance and open new businesses in Manchester. With a typical turnout of anywhere from 150 to 200 members, business leaders could see there was a viable base of customers in the area.

“There’s a demographic that is active and interested,” he said.

However, while the group has wide ranging interests and membership, Chynoweth and McLaughlin said the intent of the group wasn’t addressing major policy issues in the city.

“We may someday, but we’re not there yet,” said McLaughlin.

For now, McLaughlin said the board would focus on making the group’s offerings “vibrant and relevant for the membership.”

Yet the success of the group and its influence cannot be denied.

“We never set out to be a breeding ground for New Hampshire’s community and business leaders, but I think we have become that,” said Chynoweth.