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A new professional development program targeted toward entry-level and middle management young professionals has begun to take form in the Des Moines metro. Leadership Pursuit held its first meeting July 1 and has scheduled its second meeting for July 15.

Brant Ausenhus, founder of the program and an advertising account manager at Meyocks Group in West Des Moines, began to develop the idea more than a year ago. His goal was to fill a niche that wasn’t being filled by other area programs targeted toward young professionals.

“I was looking for an organization or some type of program that would help me develop my leadership skills,” Ausenhus said. “And after looking around, I was having a hard time finding that. There are a lot of great groups, but they didn’t fit the niche I was looking for.”

Ausenhus spent the past year talking to area leaders and management staffs asking what skills they wished their employees had. After talking to approximately 50 area leaders, he discovered that there was a gap between programs offered in the Des Moines area and what people in the industry actually were looking for.

Ausenhus hopes young professionals, as well as area leaders, take advantage of his program. “I want this program to give the members takeaway,” he said. “I want them to have some sort of takeaway that they can start using right away; a little information about a skill that they can take with them and start using.”