LEWISTON — YPLAA is out, Uplift LA is in.

The 10-year-old Young Professionals of the Lewiston-Auburn Area officially changed its name Friday with a brand relaunch, a new website, a new look and a new tagline: 

“Supporting the rising professionals of Lewiston Auburn.”

YPLAA started as part of the then-Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce as a way to cater programming, originally targeting ages 20 to 40, getting those young people more involved in the community. 

Uplift LA Chairwoman Ashlee Vandiver said over the years members have fielded many of the same questions, such as, “What is a young professional?” “Do I qualify?” “Is it based on my age?” “Is it based on my employment status?”

When YPLAA started working with the marketing group Anchour a year ago, its research found the same thing: People were apprehensive about joining because they weren’t sure whether they fit.

The short answer: They do.

It’s a way to be inclusive, continue with the existing events and “make the next leap into providing really good programming for the L-A area,” Vandiver said.

One possibility is working more with local colleges.

Uplift LA has an email list of 600 people. Monthly events regularly draw 50 to 100. There’s no cost to join Uplift LA and you don’t have to be a member of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

“If going to a chamber breakfast or going to a chamber After Hours is intimidating, you kind of start with us,” said Matt Shaw, a Steering Committee member.

The new website is www.upliftlamaine.com.

“It was time; we’ve matured a lot,” said Sandra Jones of the Uplift LA Steering Committee and an active member for nine of the 10 years. “This is our next step in having a fresh look, a fresh name and it just shows you where we’re going and where we’re going to take people.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com