NextGen members and Littleton business chamber plan 'Adulting 101' seminar, mentor partnerships

Members of the NextGen Advisory Board met with representatives of the Greater Littleton Chamber and local business volunteers to discuss a new seminar series and expanded mentorship and outreach for residents 40 and under.

The board and chamber representatives said they plan a quarterly seminar series, billed internally as “Adulting 101,” and are lining up a first seminar on first-time homebuying and a young-professionals networking event set for Feb. 20, from 5 to 7 p.m., that the chamber representative said will be promoted to anyone 40 and under to attend free of charge.

The discussion focused on short, practical programming for early-career residents: how to buy a first home, how to start and run a small business, and hands-on mentoring. “We’re calling, like, a seminar series called adulting 1 0 1,” the NGAB Chair said, describing the board’s plan to run the sessions quarterly. A chamber representative said the Feb. 20 networking event will include guest speakers, an open question period and light networking activities.

Chamber members described multiple ways local businesses could participate. The chamber representative said membership allows businesses that pay a $250 business membership fee to send multiple employees to chamber activities, and that the chamber is leaning on committees — young professionals, women in leadership, Latino business committee and restaurant/hospitality — to recruit attendees and speakers. The chamber representative also listed regular promotion channels they use: Meetup, Facebook and LinkedIn, plus the chamber newsletter.

Both groups described a planned mentor partnership with SCORE, the national nonprofit of volunteer retired and semi‑retired professionals. “We just partnered with SCORE,” the chamber representative said; the group said SCORE will provide free mentor matching and workshops for chamber members and young professionals and will join local programming on a volunteer basis. Chamber members said SCORE offers online trainings and an option to match entrepreneurs with two to three potential mentors to see who “meshes” best.

The meeting also named possible marquee speakers and programming partners. Chamber members proposed scheduling a March seminar featuring Maria Frietta, a retired teacher and local business owner whose product the chamber described as the Knockbox. The chamber representative described Frietta’s rapid revenue growth in comments to the board and said she is willing to speak about building her business; the revenue figures were presented by the chamber representative as reported financials.

The groups discussed logistics for the Adulting 101 series: Kiln (a local business/venue) was identified as a potential venue that offered space, and the city manager’s office was described as a possible source of modest support for snacks depending on expected attendance. NGAB members recommended keeping sessions concise — a networking period followed by a program and a short Q&A — and suggested a 5–7 p.m. window to accommodate workers.

Next steps recorded in the discussion: the chamber will continue outreach and recruitment for the Feb. 20 event; NGAB members will finalize a date and speaker list for the March seminar; and the groups agreed to share logos and promotional copy so the communications team can prepare social posts and print collateral.

The board closed the item by agreeing to stay in contact and coordinate promotion and speaker selection for the upcoming events.