“Wisconsin: You Know You’re Home” Invites Former Wisconsinites to Move Back to the Badger State
MADISON – Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) unveiled a new video at the sold out WMC Foundation Future Wisconsin Summit last week aimed at attracting workers to Wisconsin. The video is in response to members calling for more to be done to tackle the state’s labor shortage.
The short four-minute video is now live at wmc.org.
As the labor shortage has grown in recent years, WMC has become a more vocal voice calling for a marketing campaign to attract talent to Wisconsin. To do its part, WMC produced the new video, Wisconsin: You Know You’re Home, which features a young couple who left the state for school in Chicago, but moved back to Wisconsin when it came time to start a family.
Will and Katie Springer – the couple featured in the video – moved to Janesville, WI after living in Illinois for many years. Both highlight the work opportunities, recreational activities, safety, lower cost of living and a higher quality of life as reasons they chose to move back to the Badger State.
“Wisconsin has so much to offer, but, according to our research, people outside the state are unaware of all these great things,” said WMC President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer. “This video is meant to show young workers that Wisconsin is a great place to live, work and raise a family.”
Wisconsin: You Know You’re Home is the second video WMC has produced as a part of the WMC Foundation Future Wisconsin Project. The first video – Wisconsin: A Great Place to Get Started – premiered at the 2016 Future Wisconsin Summit and highlighted that the state is a great place to start a business and career.
The goal of WMC’s second video is not only to showcase Wisconsin’s abundant amenities to potential and former Wisconsinites, but to help policymakers in Madison understand that a larger marketing campaign is necessary.
In fact, according to a recent survey of Wisconsin CEOs – conducted by WMC – more than 80 percent of respondents said they supported the state spending additional funds to attract workers to move to Wisconsin. The same survey showed 80 percent of employers are struggling to find workers for the positions they currently have available.
“Wisconsin cannot afford to be the best-kept secret in the Midwest any longer,” added Bauer. “Our state’s employers need workers today, and a well-funded campaign to attract talent is another important step to continue growing our economy.”
At the same event Wisconsin: You Know You’re Home premiered, Gov. Scott Walker announced he was calling on lawmakers to approve legislation creating a nearly $7 million talent-attraction marketing campaign in other states. That is expected to be debated in the legislature in early 2018.
“We look forward to working with Gov. Walker and the legislature on this much-needed marketing campaign,” Bauer concluded. “At the same time we will continue to promote and share our new video with hopes of moving this conversation forward.”
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For more information, contact:
Nick Novak, 608.258.3400
