tHRive’s first ‘Table for Ten’ event took place on August 18th at Tautog’s in Virginia Beach. Ten lucky tHRive members had the chance to dine with Craig Cope – Managing Director of Commonwealth Commercial’s Hampton Roads office. Mr. Cope provided attendees with a brief overview of his career; from receiving his B.S. Degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Lafayette College in 1978 and his M.B.A. from Widener University in 1982 to being awarded the Commercial Real Estate Council’s Person of the Year in 2004 and Boy Scout Leader of the Year in 2011. Mr. Cope provided insight regarding decisions he made, both personally and professionally, that helped accelerate his career path trajectory to the position he holds today. He also touched on specific attributes he looks for in emerging young professionals when considering potential hires, as well as ideas on how young professionals can better interact with more seasoned co-workers.The dinner proved not only to be an excellent opportunity to interact with one of Hampton Road’s preeminent business leaders in an intimate setting, but also a great vehicle to connect with fellow young professionals.
Below is a tHRive member’s review after attending the ‘Table for Ten’ with Craig Cope:
“These events are great for the ‘emerging professional’ crowd because they are essentially a low-risk environment to get us used to networking. There are no jobs on the line, there are no contracts to settle, but we are getting exposed to how to interact with our business community. In the future, when we’re farther down our career growth tracks, we can look back and say that these events helped me be comfortable and confident within the business environment.”
Jason Brognano EIT, LC, CDT
Electrical Engineer EIT
Clark Nexsen
