Population Growth Strategies Underway
Population growth powers regional prosperity. If you missed E-REP’s recent Talent EVV (Population Growth) Virtual Session on March 22, it was the second of five virtual sessions where our team alongside key regional partners discussed benchmarking data specific to population growth trends, the important role quality of place plays in attracting and retaining talent, and the intentional marketing strategies underway.
Highlights from the Talent EVV (Population Growth) Virtual Session:
Population Data
With six post-secondary institutions serving more than 35,000 students annually, we have a real opportunity to engage with and retain this talent in our region. Having high quality of place amenities and strong employment opportunities upon graduation are areas that E-REP and regional stakeholders are keenly focused on.
In the past year, our region has experienced a slight increase in our minority population. From a Brookings Institution study we know that our country is becoming increasingly more diverse. Since 2010 in the U.S. the Hispanic, Asian American, and African American populations have all seen significant population increases totaling more than 20 million individuals, while the White population has seen a slight population decline. Knowing this trend will continue to drive diversity across our population, it’s critical that the Evansville Region cultivates an inclusive environment both within our regional employers and across our communities.
The Evansville Region is already designated as an Ability Community, which reflects our commitment to being inclusive to those with disabilities. Similar strategies across education, health outcomes, and self-sufficiency are being implemented to address diversity more broadly across the region. In late 2022, Talent EVV started convening an Equity and Inclusion Council to provide strategic guidance and insight to how regional leaders can be intentional when it comes to transformational strategies and tactics.
Quality of Place
Communities that invest in Quality of Place see long-term benefits economically and at the individual and community level. What are we doing related to quality of place? Where is our community investing – $100 Million in Quality of Place investments through READI:
• Toyota YMCA
• Warrick County Sports Center
• Woodmere Dog Park
• Underpass Lighting
• CenterPoint Energy Square
• Victoria Woods Trail
• cMoe Internal Exhibits
• Ohio Township Park
• Brittlebank Park
• Regional Riverfront Planning and Activation
Regional Marketing Strategy – Talent Attraction
E-REP’s marketing team is working alongside an agency to execute a digital marketing campaign outside our region with the goal of attracting individuals back to our region, or to our region for the first time.
Campaign messaging is being developed to help retain existing university talent, attract those with a previous tie to our region and attract professionals with specialized skill sets that meet the demands of our employers.
Over the last six months E-REP has developed content to support the digital marketing campaign and tell our region’s authentic story through the eisforeveryone.com website. Campaign resources include: a Newcomer’s guide to the Evansville Region, new high-quality photography of the region, blog posts about life in the Evansville Region and video stories highlighting unique individuals living here.
Early success from a remote work program called MakeMyMove was shared. In summary, in 1/6th of the time, our Evansville Region campaign has outperformed other campaigns in attracting movers by 50%.
I encourage you to look at the recorded session on the E-REP website to learn more about what our region is doing to Retain Talent, Enhance Quality of Place, and Tell our Story to help our region grow.
How can you be a part of this work? We recognize that there’s more great work happening across our region, and Talent EVV would love to highlight this work in partnership with YOU, an organization or service you are passionate about, or a regional company that’s taking a strategic stance on Place, People, and Storytelling. So, please reach out to marketing@evvregion.com to tell us more!