The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
New campaign will sell the area
Metro chamber launches drive to attract and retain knowledge workers in 29-county region.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber unveiled a new marketing campaign Monday designed to retain and attract young professionals to the region as employers across the nation face intense competition for knowledge workers.
Called “Atlanta — Where You Belong,” the campaign focuses on highlighting the quality of life in the 29-county metro area and the opportunities to launch and advance careers here. The Atlanta area and the state as a whole have been on a job creation and investment tear, fueled in large part by the emerging clean tech sectors, including electric vehicles and solar energy.
Metro Atlanta is “a location of choice” to live and work, said Katie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
Though the state’s research institutions and technical colleges are producing more graduates than ever, the insatiable appetite for skilled workers is greater than the available talent pool, she said.
“Our universities and our technical colleges are doing a really good job of producing skilled talent. The reality is capacity. They have to build it up,” Kirkpatrick said. “We know it’s an equation of both retaining the people our university system and technical college system are graduating as well as (increasing) in-migration of people from around the United States.”
The 29-county area is home to more than 6 million people, according to U.S. Census estimates for 2023, and the Atlanta region recently leapfrogged Washington and Philadelphia to become the nation’s sixth-largest metro.
“We are already in a great position. Our in-migration numbers are really good,” Kirkpatrick said. “But we cannot rest.”
Monday’s launch at the St. Regis Atlanta hotel in Buckhead featured a number of top corporate and civic leaders.
The campaign will highlight jobs and opportunities for people beginning their careers or experienced workers looking to advance or change careers. It also will showcase the culture of metro Atlanta and its diverse communities.
“Some would say a one-note town is a good thing. I say a multinote symphony is much better,” Kirkpatrick said.
The effort to create “Atlanta — Where You Belong” was announced in November during the chamber’s annual meeting. It leverages market research and
insights from an advisory panel of top marketing executives from some of Atlanta’s best-known companies, including Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola and Equifax.
Atlanta-based creative firm Dagger helped develop the campaign, which will feature metro residents and their stories.
The “Where You Belong” initiative, along with multiple internship programs and targeted workforce development programs, build upon the chamber’s revamped strategic plan to focus on emerging industries, workforce development and green energy.
But it’s not just new companies
or new sectors that need knowledge workers, officials said. Existing corporations in the region are seeking some of the same knowledge workers to propel their businesses.
There were more than 232,000 open jobs in Georgia, according to recent data from the chamber, and 165,000 unemployed persons, many of whom might not have the skills or experience to match with job openings. Georgia’s rate of new private sector job creation is also more than twice the national average, the chamber said.
But labor force participation rate is essentially the same as it was before COVID-19 as more Baby Boomers head for retirement.
“Atlanta — Where You Belong” is the successor to the chamber’s “ChooseATL” recruitment effort, which launched about a decade ago. Kirkpatrick credited it with helping to grow Atlanta’s brand among young professionals.
The new campaign, a multiyear endeavor, will leverage digital advertising and social media. It will be customizable for communities, companies and nonprofits to spread their message. Kirkpatrick said examples include “Atlanta — Where You Belong — Hapeville” or “Atlanta — Where You Belong — UPS.”
The chamber did not disclose the cost of the program or the amount of money it would devote to advertising, but did say data will drive spending and resource decisions.
The marketing campaign will include social media and advertising targeted to regional, Southeastern and national audiences largely within 450 miles of Atlanta. It will not only make appeals for people to move to Atlanta but also to help the region retain knowledge workers that other regions might want to poach, officials said.
“We want everyone to believe that this region of Atlanta is where they belong,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.