WISH: For talented people external to the region to personally move to the RNR, move their businesses to the region, or start businesses in the RNR.

Step 1 (NOW) – Positively build the RNR as one region online through a variety of tactics in a variety of communities and media.

Step 2 (Mid-Term Goal) - Promote and assist organizations (Ex. NCTC, Smart Way Bus, 81 Reaosns to Connect) that increase the number of people living in the Roanoke MSA and working in the Blacksburg MSA and vice versa. This will work toward combining and eventually merging the two MSAs.

Step 3 (Long-Term Goal) – Create one unified economic development organization in the RNR.

Kudos to Governor-elect Bob McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling for creating this position. Below is a letter I sent to Bolling to share some insights from the 4-years of this blog. I asked to think more broadly than just job creation, but also company creation. I am awaiting a response. So let’s see if it will amount to anything. Your RT and sharing would be greatly appreciated.

December 15, 2009

The Honorable Bill Bolling
2819 N Parham Rd | Suite 220
Richmond, VA 23294

Dear Lieutenant Governor Bolling:

“Companies are not in business to create jobs, but to create profits.”
Jon Roberts, TIP Strategies, Austin, Texas.

This comment resonated and stuck with me as an economic development official in the City of Roanoke, Virginia who was responsible for talent attraction and retention for the region. Listening to Jon speak, we have the wrong metric. Instead of measuring job creation, it must be profitable company creation.

Now as a recruiter for a publicly-traded, technology start-up, companies like ours are not going to hire more people if they can be more profitable with fewer people.

Additionally, as a former career advisor in the business school at Virginia Tech, our colleges and universities are not producing students with “billable skills”. They have been told to get a degree, any degree, and a job will be waiting for you. It’s a myth.

When I worked the General Assembly for Virginia Tech several years ago, Senator Chichester made a similar plea during the Higher Education Restructuring Act of 2005.

Simply put, there are jobs, good jobs. I am recruiting for 65 new hires in 2010 in Blacksburg. The question we must ask is what are job seekers going to do to acquire the skills that are in demand to do the jobs that are currently available? Chmura Economics JOBS EQ platform is a great starting point of our strategy in each region.

Additionally, I have created a concept called the “un-serviced workforce”, which is attached to describe what we are seeing in the trenches. I am also assisting job seekers with a diversified four-prong approach to personal career management based on Relationships, Humility, Education and Faith.

When reading this you may be asking what my credentials are, as a native of Southside Virginia, you can contact any of the following references xxxx. You can also visit my blog at www.stuartmease.com.

In closing, I would like to volunteer my time, understanding and passion to assist you achieve success with your new role as Chief Jobs Creation Officer.

Sincerely,

Stuart Mease

Part 6 of our suggestions to region to better attract and retain the next generation of talented workers. If you would like more from a YP or company perspective, then those are coming in the near future.

Poll high school students to see what it will take for them to stay

We created a survey in a local high school class to ask students what they wanted or needed in order to stay. There exist many examples of intolerance of teenagers through rules and control mechanisms. Certainly these limitations are meant for the good of the young person; however, it also has an unintentional negative effect – lack of tolerance. Students are restricted to what they can do. As a result, they do things they are not suppose to do, and spend more time in online communities that do except them. Ultimately, after they graduate they buy a one–way ticket out of the region.

By creating the poll, getting the students to shape it, and reporting on the results, we can begin to implement items that will demonstrate more tolerance of young people and in turn will hopefully make them view their hometown a little bit differently.

The survey becomes a voice and an interactive mechanism for them to shape local government issues that will benefit their sector of the population and work toward retaining them or persuading them to return after college.

The fifth tactic to help your community attract and retain YPs in your region. These tactics are proven from a 3.5 year case study in Roanoke, Virginia.

Make your YP initiative a political issue

Attracting and retaining young people is an issue not many people can complain or gripe about. We all want our kids to live close by; therefore, there was rarely negative support for initiatives, if any. In turn, a YP candidate for city council emerged and he amassed the YP votes and created a rather large and powerful voter block, which propelled him to victory. Now there is a visible young professional voice as an elected official. This representation communicates volumes to the next generation.

The fourth part in a series for communities to better understand how to attract and retain younger talent in their region.

Establish user-generated online calendar of things to do in the region and use the calendar on other content sites

The number one thing YPs wanted was a user-generated web site of things to do in the region. Finally, two different groups stepped up simultaneously to deliver a site, yet both having a unique niche. MyScoper.com and RoanokeNights.com both have been very successful in communicating things to do in the region. By having an open source site created by the community, more events are showcased and therefore enhancing the perception of things to do. Also, syndicating the site on other region-centric content sites has also assisted organizations in not having to dedicate a person to do it manually.