Epsilon’s Ascending Professionals Group (APG) just celebrated its first anniversary this August. The APG was formed by a group of energetic, motivated and talented young professionals within the company. The mission of Epsilon’s APG is to facilitate the personal and career development of the company’s young professionals who are in the early to intermediate stages of their environmental consulting careers.
The APG supports the growth of their members by providing opportunities to expand upon existing talents and to learn new professional skills through informative workshops and guided discussions, and focuses on organizing networking and team building events to foster relationships amongst its members and other young professionals outside of the company. The APG is comprised of Epsilonians who have less than 10 years of experience in the industry.
Over the course of the first year of activity, Epsilon’s APG has developed three kinds of monthly events for its members, including social outings, career development opportunities, and open meeting/discussions. The focus of the social events is to offer the opportunity for young professionals from our different groups to interact and to get to know their peers better in a more relaxed setting, typically outside of the office. Some of the social events that took place over the last year included casual activities such as pizza at the local brewery down the street from the office and also some more exciting outings like axe throwing and escape rooms! The APG also developed and hosted several career development events in the form of workshops or formal presentations, sometimes with Epsilon senior staff as guest speakers. These workshops covered topics such as company-specific training on how to use Epsilon’s accounting system, an introduction to project management, an overview of Massachusetts permitting processes, and the basics of how to network effectively. Lastly, the APG focused on organizing open meetings/guided discussions which offered the space for its members to express ideas, discuss their experiences, identify opportunities or areas of improvement within the company from their perspective, and to brainstorm on events that may be beneficial for continued social interaction and career development. One fun feature that has developed from these open discussions is “A Day in the Life of an Epsilonian” where APG members of different service line groups from within the company explain what their job is like on a day-to-day basis. In addition to these monthly events, the APG has also hosted events that include all members of the company, such as trivia in the “Epsilounge” (our kitchen area in the Maynard office) and a yoga and meditation event.
The energy and enthusiasm of Epsilon’s APG has been infectious throughout the company over the past year and they have brought a fresh perspective and so many innovative ideas to the company as we continue to expand into new geographies, to grow in size, and evolve in the services we offer. Their desire to learn new skills and take on new challenges is inspiring to all within the company and the future looks bright!