New Marketing Push Aims To Lure More Millennials To North Texas
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - It's called "Say Yes to Dallas," and it's a new nationwide marketing push from the Dallas Regional Chamber to help lure top talent to North Texas.
"It helps drive growth, it helps drive the economy," says Jessica Heer, the Dallas Regional Chamber's Senior V.P. of Talent Attraction. "You can't have a robust economy without people."
And millennials, which are those highly coveted 18- to 34-year-old workers, are at the top of the list.
"There's jobs here," Milton Grays says. "There's culture."
Grays moved from Florida about two months ago to help the Dallas Regional Chamber reach fellow millennials. Chamber officials say the tech savvy talent pool is crucial to future growth, so they need to reach them online.
"They're not reading billboards in San Francisco, and LA and New York," Heer says. "They're sitting in an Uber on their phone."
According to Heer, the campaign markets to talent of all ages, but says millennials are often better positioned in life to relocate. So, one of the most popular tools on the www.sayyestodallas.com website is the cost of living comparison.
"When we're comparing Dallas with those high cost markets, housing can be as much as 50% less," Heer says. "So homeownership, the traditional American dream can happen here in Dallas and the region."
And Larry Biggers says it's working. He was living in Chicago when he was recruited by a company that moved its headquarters to Dallas.
"The cost of living was one of the biggest things that attracted me here to Dallas," says Biggers, a director of business development for a local transportation company. "And the driving, young population here."
Biggers says he's been thrilled to find so many other young professionals in the area already looking to make an impact. "Directors like myself, owners, CEOs who have their own companies, all around my age. I was amazed by that - and just like Chicago - I found that down here in excess."
One thing Biggers says he hasn't found was that old West stereotype - and that's okay, too.
"A bunch of horses running down the street," he adds with a laugh when asked about his prior perception of Dallas. "But, it's a very thriving city, I love everything about it."