LeMars, IA - Dozens of young professionals in the Le Mars area are on the GO.

Actually, their new organization is called HYPER -- Helping Young Professionals Energize the Region. Their mission: creating a group to provide a social and professional network for young professionals in town, do a variety of service for their community and lend a social richness to life that will help communities retain the young professionals who come to work there.

And the group emphasizes that the "R" stands for Region. It wants to show that the whole region is a great place for young professionals to thrive. At the same time, HYPER wants to make sure it doesn't get too demanding: because the members are young and are professionals, they already have very busy lives.

About 20 members gathered recently at 4 Brothers Bar & Grill for HYPER's monthly Beer & Bull session, just to socialize over hot wings or dinner. It was a mix of newcomers and native Le Mars residents, all wanting to expand their networks.

It's been exactly what Megan Kerkmann, a child care consultant, and her husband, Casey, who works at Wells', needed to get involved in the community after moving there from Beatrice, Neb. in May, Megan said.

Le Mars native Micah Lang, an assistant vice president for American Bank, said he's noticed that when new young people are hired by local companies they often buy a home in Sioux City, looking for a social life. "We want to add social context for them here," he said.

Many have joined HYPER to make business connections, but have also made a lot of friends they spend time without outside of HYPER meetings. HYPER encourages the feeling of being part of something and making a difference in the community, too.

The idea for HYPER began with Liz Croston, a public relations manager for Wells', who was a member of Sioux City GO. Working with GO's Virginia Anderson, Croston and HYPER's current president Adam Baumgartner got about 15 people together to developed a mission statement and goals to fit a Northwest Iowa version of the organization.

Introductory social meetings netted turnouts of 40 or 50 and 80 people have expressed interest in the group.

Baumgartner said the executive committee foresees a number of channels in which members can be active: professional development opportunities with outside speakers and leadership training; neutral-ground candidate forums; and activities to improve the community. They may even help make sure of an accurate 2010 Census count, which includes new young professionals in Northwest Iowa.