The Lakewood Chamber of Commerce has created a young professionals group, Pillars. Our mission is to cultivate Lakewood’s business development by engaging the city’s demographic of 20-40 year olds. By offering programs that go beyond the typical singles happy hour, we strive to deliver true value and connect residents, employees and business people of the city to their community. Examples of this are events that engage the attendees with one another to create an environment conducive to networking and business development. A couple major events are in the works.

The first is the annual golf outing at Sweetbriar on July 25th, which has the theme “Hitting the Greens for a Greener Lakewood”. All proceeds from this event will go towards greening business areas and schools within the city. The second event will be the 3rd annual Wing Cook Off in August, where the restaurants/bars will be squaring off to provide the best wings in Lakewood. Sponsorship and participation opportunities for both of these events are still available.

On top of our major events, we will be hosting monthly programs that feature educational speakers at various locations throughout the city. Our first will be on May 29th at Around The Corner from 6-8pm, and our featured speaker will be Brian Salem of Realty One on business benefits of community involvement. Our second program will be held June 26th at Put-In-Bay Lakewood from 6-8pm. We will have a very special guest speaking on the dos and don’ts of interviewing. The cost for both these programs will be $5 for Chamber members and $10 for non-members. Please visit our website for more information on the group or events at www.pillarsoflakewood.com.