Federation meetup is (nearly) all business
The Jewish Federation in the Heart of NJ has launched a business and professional society in an effort to bring together members of the community to network and socialize.
The inaugural meeting of the group on Oct. 26 at the offices of Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis in Iselin drew about 50 people.
A mix of young people and senior professionals engaged with each other and heard about the changing sports industry from experts.
“We wanted to give Jewish business people an opportunity to meet each other,” said federation president Mitch Frumkin. “Jews have always helped each other. I’m very happy to see the amount of young people here starting careers who are looking to network and make connections in the Jewish world, and the number of professionals who seem willing to help them. “
Frumkin noted people were there not only to make business connections, but to meet others in the Jewish community. “There are a lot faces of people here I’ve never seen before,” he said.
Federation affinity group manager Jason Krane said the creation of the society was an outgrowth of the merger of the former Jewish federations of Greater Middlesex and Monmouth counties.
“We feel the merger was an opportunity to connect different types of people, including the business community,” he said.
The federation now has three such professional groups, including the Cardozo Society for legal professionals and the Maimonides Society for medical and healthcare professionals. The next meeting for the business society is planned for mid-February.
The panel discussion featured Robert Chalfin, minority interest holder of three minor league baseball teams; Mike LoVerde, director of the sports and entertainment division of the East Brunswick-based Wilkin & Guttenplan accounting firm; and Chris Tafrow, general manager of the Lakewood BlueClaws baseball team.
They spoke about social media’s impact on marketing, the relationship between major league teams and their minor league affiliates, and ways to attract fans and advertising dollars.
Max Feinblatt of Highland Park, who does voiceovers and has worked in the sports industry for five years, said he came because he was “interested in making connections with sports professionals to further my career.”
Joel and Beth Krinsky of Manalapan have a real estate management and consultancy company and said the first meeting met their expectations. “I met people, had preliminary networking discussions, noshed, heard great speakers, and renewed old acquaintances,” said Joel.
For more information about the Jewish Federation in the Heart of NJ’s professional groups and their upcoming events, contact Jason Krane at jasonk@jewishheartnj.org or 732-588-1860 or visit jewishheartnj.org/peers.
comments