ProVia leadership symposium at Kent Tusc’s PAC
In a world coming off a pandemic that has created a plethora of challenges for businesses and communities, the need to find and give strong direction to blossoming leaders in the workplace has become more important than ever.
For the past several years, the ProVia leadership symposium has provided many keynote speakers designed to give companies insight into how they can build effective leaders through teamwork, vision, creativity and servant leadership.
After taking last year off due to the pandemic, ProVia has gotten right back into providing an avenue for area businesses to build leaders.
ProVia will present The Symposium 2021 at the Performing Arts Center at Kent State Tuscarawas on Friday, Aug. 20. This year’s theme will be “Uncertainty: Confidence from Within.” With a slate of nationally renowned speakers and local professionals who will touch on the world of health in 2021, The Symposium 2021 continues the trend of providing insight into building leaders in the workplace, at home and in communities.
The event is designed to unite, encourage and inform leaders from all over Northeast Ohio through several speakers whose messages are designed to foster faith-based conversation and learning in the leadership realm.
Preparing the symposium this year was different in that last year’s event was canceled due to the pandemic. That meant waiting out the time when ProVia could move forward with the event was in the hands of the Performing Arts Center allowing their doors to be reopened to a full crowd.
“It wasn’t more difficult, but there was more of a time crunch,” coordinator Ed Breehl said. “We already had done a lot of the background work in preparation for the event that was canceled last year, so when the Performing Arts Center said we could finally have maximum capacity, that was when we moved forward again at full speed. We basically condensed a 12-month process into about a 10-week process.”
However, that process could move quickly because of the plentiful help and direction from the ProVia Leads class that helps take charge of each year’s event. ProVia’s leadership group changes from year to year, meaning a new group of leaders helps move the event forward.
The symposium came to fruition several years ago after a group of ProVia leaders traveled all over the United States to attend leadership conventions and developed a vision of starting a leadership series in Northeastern Ohio.
According to ProVia President and CEO Brian Miller, the group traveled to Lakeland, Florida five years in a row to a two-day event before settling on the task of creating their own.
“There was nothing else like it around our area, and we wanted to create an opportunity for companies around here to gain great insight from these incredible speakers,” Miller said.
It began as a smaller in-house venue but quickly moved to the PAC and has grown ever since.
“Each year I think it has improved,” Miller said. “The idea was bringing together a group of people who truly understand what leadership is and means to our own community of leaders. We have always felt that a rising tide lifts all ships, and we have a special group of leaders in our area who can benefit from this type of an event.”
Much of what they have tried to do is establish servant leadership among area leaders, and that has remained a focal point alongside the faith aspect of leadership values.
The keynoter speaker for this year’s event will be Craig Groeschel, pastor and CEO of Life Church and New York Times best-selling author. Other speakers completing the lineup of nationally renowned professionals include Erin O’Malley, facilitator, trainer and expert in Bold Communication; leadership and development life coach Luke Kuepfer; Tim Kight, founder of Focus 3 Executive Coaching Firm; and mountaineer and adventurer Jeff Evans. The symposium will be emceed by Dan Owolabi, former event speaker and founder of Owolabi Leadership and co-founder of Branches Worldwide.
The trio of local healthcare professionals addressing healthcare issues facing today’s world includes Chris Beck, vice president of operations and business development at Union Hospital; Teresa Yoder, director of independent living and assisted living at Walnut Hills Retirement Community; and Dr. Stan Boyd of Pomerene Hospital emergency room.
“With all of the uncertainty from a health standpoint right now, we felt it would be good to bring in health professionals to touch on how the world has changed almost overnight,” Breehl said. “Everyone was impacted by it, and probably healthcare officials and workers more than any others, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to share their stories firsthand of what they faced on a daily basis.”
In addition to the seminars and speakers, every attendee will be provided with a catered meal, with this year’s meal being served outside under large tents that will allow greater room for attendees.
An addition to this year’s event is the establishment of simulcast remote viewing for area high school teens at the Ohio Star Theater in Sugarcreek.
Breehl said everything is in place, and now they simply are on a crusade to bring in sponsors and provide an avenue for people and businesses to purchase tickets.
Those wishing to get involved with the event may do so in several ways. The first is by attending the event as individuals or as a business seeking to build leadership.
Individual tickets are $100 each with seating in the level-two balcony area or $150 for main floor seating. These tickets also include a catered lunch and gifts.
Companies also can get involved by becoming sponsors to the event including Community Leadership Steward level at $10,000 (36 tickets), Partner level at $4,500 (18 tickets), Supporter level of $2,500 (10 tickets), Backer level of $1,500 (six tickets) and Connector level at $1,000 (four tickets). All but the Connector level include the gift packages, VIP seating, and the Steward level includes an opportunity for a company to cohost on the day of the event.
Anyone wishing to purchase tickets may do so by visiting www.provia.com/tickets.
