FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) - Julie Sole still keeps in touch with her classmates of Leadership Marion, even though it’s been about four years since she completed the class.
Of all the knowledge she gained from the civic-oriented leadership program, Sole said the connections she made while a student are one of her fondest takeaways.
“Second only to the knowledge you gain about your community and opportunities to give back is the relationship you build with your classmates,” Sole said. “These are lifelong friendships and camaraderie that has been built by going through the program. I was in class 35, and I think you could ask any one of the 38 classes, and they would tell you the bonds they form are still standing.”
After 38 classes run under the umbrella of Fairmont State University, the Marion County Chamber of Commerce is taking over Leadership Marion by way of its education committee, of which Sole is a member. Sole and Brett White, executive director of the United Way of Marion and Taylor County, will co-direct Leadership Marion.
“The Chamber has always been a partner for Leadership Marion,” said Tina Shaw, Chamber president. “Most leadership programs are led through their local chamber of commerce. But it was started back in the ’80s and it has been a great partnership ever since.”
Sole and White will take over for former Fairmont State professor Budd Sapp, who directed Leadership Marion for 17 years until he retired this summer. Sapp agrees the partnership between Leadership Marion and the Chamber of Commerce has been good since the program began.
“I think the chamber is a natural fit, due to the fact that a lot of local businesses are members,” Sapp said. “Hopefully those members will sponsor an individual to be in the program and we’ll have good numbers in each class for the annual program for years to come.”
Sapp said he plans to keep many of the program’s traditions in place.
“We want to really look at maintaining the traditions the program has had,” Sapp said. “We have a very, very rich history, we have an outstanding alumni association, if you will, in Action Marion, and the folks who have gone through the program, whether they have stayed here locally or have gone off to different areas of the country, they are still part of that tradition and part of that program.”
Sapp will maintain an advisory position for Leadership Marion, and its board of directors will remain in place as well, while collaborating with the Chamber’s executive board for the program.
Shaw also said this year’s Leadership Marion class is on hold, because of the coronavirus pandemic, which gives the Chamberce time to organize how the class will run under its new leadership.
“The timing couldn’t be better, because now it gives us time to get our ducks in order and start planning for next year,” Shaw said. “The plan is to keep everything pretty much the same; the program will run just as it always has.”
The class normally takes in about 20 members from the community, who first take part in a day-long retreat to get to know one another, and plan out what the entire class will do each month for the better part of a year. The class normally held monthly seminars where its members learned about an organization, business or nonprofit group, but Shaw said she is unsure of how this aspect will continue.
“There’s going to be some tweaks made,” Shaw said. “We do know that there will be a retreat, because that’s very important to kick off the program… But we’re not sure of the monthly seminars, exactly how all that will play in.”
Sapp said the implementation of these monthly seminars changed over the course of his leadership, and members of Leadership Marion began choosing organizations on their own they wanted to learn about. All of this information was to instill a sense of community pride and action in the class members.
“The purpose of it is to pretty much form civic-oriented leaders or community leaders that would get involved, run for office, serve the public the best they could, and also stewardship to give back,” Sapp said. “It ended up evolving into different themes for each month, that way you could see different aspects of the community throughout the entire program, and then it gave those individuals the opportunity to see all the different elements of the community.”
Sapp said one class created the Spring Into Action Fair and those that followed kept the tradition going at the end of their year instead of having a peer retreat, which was another big change for the program.
“Instead of having an end-of-the-program retreat, we had an end-of-the-program community event where we tried to give back,” Sapp said. “I think that was probably the biggest change that the classes and me as the director changed.”
Sole said she believes the Chamber will allow Leadership Marion to venture further in to community action, due to its community business and nonprofit connections. She also said it could be a good program for members of the Chamber to send representatives to, which would further grow the community of graduates from the program.
“I think that being under the Chamber of Commerce umbrella is going to open us up to really recruiting new participants for Leadership Marion from sectors that maybe we hadn’t before,” Sole said. “Small businesses and nonprofits and other folks that are Chamber members that really might be looking for an avenue to provide leadership and professional development to their employees; I just think it’s going to be an excellent incentive to have this program available.”
Shaw said Leadership Marion has a Facebook page, and is still accepting a few more class members for its currently unscheduled 39th class. She would like to see the reinvigoration of Action Marion, which was comprised up of Leadership Marion graduates to again demonstrate the power of the program.
“You have been through the program and now you need to stay in touch with these people,” Shaw said. “It becomes more of a value as you grow in your careers. Action Marion will be more career-oriented, and helping our graduates as they grow in Marion County.”
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