Attracting Young Professionals to Your Community: 
Why? And How?

September 2005

By:  Katie Bullard

AngelouEconomics

Meet Erin. She is a 28-year old intellectual property lawyer who has spent the past 3 years working for a high-powered firm in a major city. Although she has enjoyed her job, she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life putting in 80-hour workweeks, and she’s thinking of making a career shift. She’s not sure what yet, but she knows her education and experience will allow for great flexibility in finding a job. What she KNOWS is that she wants to live in a dynamic, welcoming community where she can put her political aspirations to use and really make a difference in civic life.

Why should you care about Erin?

Erin is a pivotal player in today’s “knowledge-based” economy. The U.S. economy has drastically changed over the past 20 years. Experts point out that information and knowledge are replacing capital and energy as the primary wealth-creating assets in today’s economy. Technology and knowledge are now primary production factors. Technological advances allow information to be instantly transmitted across the world, and the primary competitive advantage a company possesses is its process of innovation and its ability to derive value from information.

This requires that employees contribute innovative ideas to increase productivity and quality, reduce costs, and develop solutions rather than merely point to problems. To succeed, workers need more education, advanced skills, and a culture that is adaptable to the rapidly changing world in which their employers operate.

A region’s economic strength will depend heavily on its ability to attract, retain, and develop a human capital base that is skilled and flexible. Historically, a community’s physical assets such as location, roads, and power determined where companies would locate. Now, the economic development rules have changed. Human capital plays a much more important role in the success of companies and communities. Businesses demand an educated workforce.

Retaining that human capital has become a critical issue because there is no such thing as corporate loyalty today. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average 34 year old has worked for 9 corporations in his/her career and switches job every 18 months.

Skilled human capital is at a premium in an era when workforce growth is declining. Not only do employees switch jobs more often, the growth rate of that workforce is slowing. The rate of workforce growth since 1982 has steadily declined.

Prior to the entry of the baby boomers to the workforce, the highest workforce median age ever observed was 40.5 in 1962. By 2012, it will be 41.4, well surpassing that previous high.

Most of you know this. You know that’s why cities are competing furiously amongst themselves to attract and retain that coveted demographic: the “young professional.”

What is a “young professional?” The term “young professional” might be argued to be a state of mind. At the risk of offending some, however, and for the purpose of this article, young professionals are defined as people between 25-44 who are “knowledge workers”: employed in a field that requires computers, science, or design skills at a high level. They may be single or married, with or without children. The influence of this population also extends beyond itself. They are key to future population (and economic) growth through potential childbearing.

Young professionals look for a place to live first, and then they find a job. As the median age in the U.S. increases, the percentage of total population that is 25-44 is shrinking. This demographic is at a premium, and they can afford to be picky when choosing where to live. Productive, educated workers are highly sought after, and as a result, have a wide variety of work options and locations from which to choose.

Next Generation Consulting reports that “3 out of every 4 young people under the age of 28 first pick a place to live and then find a job.”

In fact, one young professional admitted to me, “Choosing where to live supersedes choosing where to work …changing jobs is much easier than changing towns. I’m looking for a dynamic place to live.”

Young professionals are looking for superior quality of life. Quality of life means different things to many people. For many, it starts with good health, good job, and security for themselves and their families. For young professionals, though, it may involve much more. Most are looking for a community with a broad and diverse employment base that will allow them flexibility as they migrate from one career to the next. They want the opportunity to become engaged in civic life through service on community boards and volunteering with community groups. They demand a wide variety of recreational, artistic, and entertainment options.

Communities that lack the environment to support their young professionals are at a competitive disadvantage. A case in point: 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. "San Diego was an excellent move for us, because it's ideal for attracting the kind of talent in the numbers that are required now for us at Gateway," explained John Heubusch, Gateway's vice president of public affairs.

What does this mean for you?

Communities must give equal weight to the attraction and retention of a young professional workforce as they do to the attraction of companies.

How is this accomplished? Several of AngelouEconomics’ Economic Development Action Plans have focused heavily on strategies designed to attract and retain young professionals.

AngelouEconomics’ recommendations have included:

• Develop a new (or strengthen an existing) Young Professionals Organization (YPO) that is more than just a social club. Dedicate enough resources for the YPO so that staff members can develop marketing campaigns and leadership programs within the community.

• Establish partnerships between area colleges and universities and businesses to develop incubators that will fuel entrepreneurial activities.

• Create a marketing campaign to recruit “boomerangs” back to the area. “Boomerangs” are people who either grew up in your region, attended college there, or served as interns during their college career. This campaign should include a website, a direct mail or e-mail campaign, and planned social events in cities with high concentrations of area alumni.

• Recruit engaged young people to serve on community boards and support their grassroots initiatives.

• Design a web-based portal of “things to do after hours”, including music, art, nightlife, movies, restaurants, and community events.

• Develop a retail strategy plan to attract high-end retail/shopping options, or offer group trips to nearby shopping destinations.

• Develop hike/bike trails within the city along riverfronts, creeks, bayous, or parks.

• Team up with the Human Resource Directors of the community’s major employers to promote the area’s assets at area colleges and universities.

• Sponsor a free summer outdoor concert series after work on Fridays near employment centers so that employees can walk there after work.

• Publish a weekly alternative magazine of “things to do” that includes commentary on civic life and political happenings.

States and communities across the nation have implemented a variety of other programs designed to attract and retain young professionals. Several of these are highlighted below.

• North Dakota offers tuition reimbursement of up to $5,000 for students in technology and teaching fields that stay in the state after graduating from a North Dakota university. The state has also established “Operation: Intern, North Dakota's Future at Work”, which matches college students with North Dakota employers.

• The “Imagine Iowa’s Future” tour was the result of the Iowa 2010 report issued four years ago by the Governor's Strategic Planning Council and was led by Iowans for a Better Future. The 10- city tour ran between April and June with a series of live, two-hour radio shows broadcast statewide. Each show involved a live audience and a panel of guests that included leading experts in education, economic development, workforce development and more.

The tour specifically targeted high school and college students to get involved in civic life by providing more than panel discussions. The introductory session included brainstorming sessions for students with the state’s First Lady and Secretary of State. Workshops were held on everything from finding a dream job to creating a magazine or web site to specifics about the fields of arts, film, and music. Each show featured musical entertainment from musicians around the state.

• Michigan launched the statewide “Cool Cities” initiative in 2003 to revitalize communities with the goal of attracting “knowledge workers” who were leaving Michigan for other cities. The program started with focus groups, a “cool cities” survey aimed specifically at college students, university summits, and benchmarking studies to identify those things that would make Michigan cities attractive to young professionals. As a result, the pilot program combines more than 100 of the state's community improvement grants, tax credits, loans, and assistance programs into a single toolbox that can now be used by cities and communities for revitalization projects identified through the initial phase.

• Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM) is one of the most active YPOs in the nation. They recently released the results of a “recruitability index” designed to measure Milwaukee’s assets for young professionals against other benchmark communities. Although the study found that Milwaukee ranked highly in most categories, it also found that the primary impediment to recruiting young professionals is a negative perception of the city. Efforts are underway by city officials to launch a new branding campaign as a way to improve the city’s image.

The case for young professionals is clear. Economic development officials MUST place high priority on recruiting and retaining the future of the region’s primary workforce. Every community is unique and has assets attractive to young professionals that can be capitalized on and strengthened. If you are interested in developing strategies to attract and retain young professionals, AngelouEconomics is available to help.