The Roanoke Regional Playbook for Attracting Gen-Z (Part 2)

Welcome back for the second part of the Roanoke Regional Playbook for talent attraction! If you’ve not already, we encourage you to take a look at part one where we dive into the region’s placemaking efforts and how those have paid dividends in attracting and keeping residents.

In part two, we’re talking our approach to talent attraction.

Aerial Shot of Mill Mountain Star
Drone image at the Roanoke Star during the Blue Ridge Marathon

Holistic, Strategic Approach to Talent Attraction

As we’ve seen, creating a quality place is key to talent attraction efforts, but it’s just a piece of the puzzle. After all, how good is your story if no one hears it? And once people get here, what support is available to help them flourish? That’s where Get2KnowNoke, the Partnership’s talent attraction brand, comes in. A regional issue began to surface a few years ago—employers faced difficulty in finding qualified people to fill their positions. Get2KnowNoke was created to join other regional entities working to address these challenges, and we’ve found our sweet spot in these three areas: strategic marketing, intentional community building, and robust employer support.

Marketing

log rollers go fest
The Lumberjack Show at the annual Anthem GO Outside Festival in Roanoke, VA
  • Social media marketing on Get2KnowNoke channels showcasing beautiful vistas, fine dining, diverse residents, community events, and regional job opportunities.
  • A regional jobs board that scrapes thousands of job sites within the regional footprint.
  • Regional “Events Calendar” tool for the website to highlight regional activities for residents.
  • Livability guides with content highlighting every aspect of the region’s value proposition.
  • Bi-weekly emails to highlight upcoming events, job opportunities, professional development, and other Get2KNowNoke content.
  • Paid search and digital marketing campaigns targeting strategic locations.
  • Currently developing a new website that will include a “talent portal” where employers will be able to request communication with talent within the network based on specific skills, industry, experience level, etc.
  • Developing a new “Where to Live” tool for the new website to help potential residents choose where to live based on their priorities and desires.
  • Currently developing new photo and video assets highlighting the benefits of living and working in the Roanoke Region.

Community Building

Five young professionals, three women and two men, pose for the camera with their arms around one another. They're in a park in the evening.
Attendees at the Mill Mountain Park Sesh, a Get2KnowNoke quarterly social.
  • Developed the Roanoke Regional Professionals Network, with a LinkedIn and Facebook group, to connect and support young and mid-career professionals in the region.
  • Quarterly networking socials at new and/or interesting venues to showcase the region while providing opportunities for professionals to make meaningful connections. (These events regularly bring in 200 attendees.)
  • Created Onboard|ROA, a regional eight-week onboarding program for interns, remote workers, and young professionals (ages 18-25). Onboard|ROA provides professional development as well as regional outings to connect with the area as well as other young professionals.
  • In partnership with regional higher educational institutions, we hosted the Regional Intern & Career Expo to connect employers and young talent.
  • Created (and currently revamping) the Experience Conference, a multi-day event where 20 regional organizations and companies are working together to host 42 programs/events/parties that showcase the vibrancy of the Roanoke Region while preparing our employers and talent for an exciting and prosperous future.
  • In 2022, we created a Talent Ambassador Program to help tell our regional story peer-to-peer, connect residents to resources and people who can help them succeed, provide mentorship, and build a community of professionals who are passionate about our region.

Employer Support/Resources

An African-American woman at a job fair explains employment opportunities to a young white woman.
The Fall Intern and Career Expo hosted in fall 2023 at the Taubman Museum.
  • We’re working with career development partners and local colleges to host the Employer Talent Summit in March 2024. The goal of this program is to help regional employers be savvy recruiters who are engaged in the talent development process.
  • We create custom livability books to highlight the region’s value proposition in a way that helps employers attract top talent to the Roanoke Region of Virginia.
  • This year, our team began developing custom regional talent solutions packages for businesses. This package is often presented with our custom livability book.
  • We offer one-on-one employer consultations to understand employers’ challenges and goals to connect them with regional solutions.

Playbook for Success

outdoor mural arts and culture
One of the new murals in Roanoke located at River’s Edge North on Reserve Avenue.

It’s never a one-size-fits-all solution, but the Roanoke Region has written its own playbook for success when it comes to attracting and keeping Gen-Z. It comes down to listening, research, implementation, and patience. Know who you are and embrace that identity. There are a lot of factors out of your control (climate, cost of living, terrain, etc.), so focus on regional strengths and where one can make an impact—like community building or helping regional employers with their challenges. Once leaders in the Roanoke Region recognized the regional assets, listened to partners about their needs, and gathered the data about what people care about, the needle started to move on in-migration while simultaneously creating a better quality of life for the current residents. It didn’t happen overnight, but it’s happening now, and people (Gen-Z included) are taking notice.