Feb 23, 2005 2 min read

We have all heard the complaint far too often. You know the one that goes something along these lines. The problem with Fayette County is that it offers nothing for its young people. The best and brightest are forced to move away, and the ones still here don’t do much for the community. It’s been said so often and with so much force that the perception has become a warped reality.

The Gen Xers – yes, we have them – are finally countering the myth. Their message: Don’t minimize our contribution.

Last week a new organization Fayette Opportunity Network or FayOp.net, as its members have dubbed it, announced its existence. FayOp.net is a group of about 45 professionals – many of them business owners – who are 35 years or younger who realized that together they have moved more than $100 million through the county.

That’s an up and coming force to be reckoned with.

One of the group’s organizer and now its first president Joe Carei (owner of Caileigh’s Restaurant) is a native of New Jersey who came here 12 years ago. Carei says that he is often asked by older professionals why he would come to Fayette County, implying that he ought to know better. Young people leave, they don’t pick this area.

That’s a myth worth busting. FayOp.net is willing to do just that. Carei isn’t an exception to the myth; there are far too many other professionals in his age group to continue to ignore their presence.

The group encourages forward thinking by supporting new ideas and progressive action, and is attempting to form alliances with other community-minded groups in order to serve the community.

How often have we also heard older service group members decry that younger men and women just don’t dedicate themselves to community service. FayOp.net just might bust that myth as well.