Written by Leah Bruscino, Wyoming Business Council
Northwest Regional Director
Park, Big Horn, Hot Springs, Washakie Counties
143 S. Bent, Suite B
Powell, WY 82435
307.754.5785

For years economic development incentives have included things like tax abatements or low tax environments, reduced infrastructure costs, reduced lease payments, and workforce training grants. But there’s a new game in town and successful communities will need to learn how to play it and have additional incentives in their toolbox.

Last year at the Wyoming Economic Development Association’s fall conference Mark Lautman told us that in mid-2008 the number of jobs in the United States (and worldwide) would exceed the supply of workers and a major part of economic development will include developing the quantity and quality of the local workforce. More and more companies will make location decisions based on a community’s labor and talent pool.

We know that the baby boomers are aging and will be leaving the workforce in record numbers. Add to that the fact that Wyoming’s population is already older than other states and our young people are leaving faster than we can replace them.

The new economic development game is youth attraction and communities, large and small, all over the United States are taking it seriously and finding out what they can do to retain and attract young professionals in the 25-44 age range. I did a Google search for "Best Communities for Young Professionals" and "Attracting Young Professionals to Communities" and found scores of articles, ideas and resources.

So what can we do to appeal to these young professionals? First of all, our communities need to be cool. We hear a lot about Wyoming’s great quality of life but there is more to Q of L than hunting and fishing. (Actually quality of life is a term that appeals to older people. Quality of place is what the younger demographic talks about.) Young professionals want a vibrant community that is alive after five. According to a recent USA Today article, young professionals "don’t live to work but work to live. They play in bands and sports leagues. They like to go out but not just with people from the office. They’re more interested in parks and bike trails than fancy sports arenas." They want cool coffee houses, smoke-free bars, and an arts scene.

It’s not just economic developers and communities that realize the importance of raising the local hip-factor. Employers are moving to cool communities because they want to attract a young labor force. A report by Katie Bullard of Angelou Economics cites Gateway, Inc. as an example, "…access to human capital drove computer maker Gateway Inc. to relocate its headquarters from North Sioux City, South Dakota to San Diego, California. To grow requires the very best and brightest executives and engineers, and few wanted to call South Dakota home."

Besides creating an alive after five community that speaks to young professionals, here are other ideas for attracting and engaging this group:

• Develop a boomerang campaign to bring expats back home. Cody is doing this with their newly launched "Bring ‘Em Back Home" initiative.

• Use technology to get your message out: MySpace, Facebook, Youtube, blogs, and hip websites. Search for wtschamber on Youtube to see what people have to say about living in Worland.

• Is your organization on MySpace? More and more colleges, universities and organizations are finding social networks like MySpace are great places to connect to young professionals.

• Start a Young Professionals Organization for networking opportunities. A Google search will give you information on what these organizations are doing in other towns and how to get one organized.

• Recruit young professionals to be on civic boards and advisory groups so they can help shape the future of your community.

• Develop hiking and biking trails and make your community more pedestrian/bike friendly.

• This goes without saying, make your town aesthetically pleasing.

• Incent what you want to attract.

• Develop a tuition reimbursement program for talent pools that you are trying to grow.

As we work to diversify Wyoming’s economy we also need to diversify the age of our workforce. Our global economy is transitioning to a knowledge-based economy where know-how, expertise, creativity and intellectual capital are more important than traditional resources like land and natural resources. We have relied on our open spaces and natural resources to fuel Wyoming’s economy but as a Microsoft zine says, "It’s time to get on the future train." One way we can do this is to ensure that we create communities that are vibrant and attractive to the young professionals that will make us competitive in a knowledge-based economy.