Valley City offers a taste of “the Good Life”
The Valley City Economic Development Corporation wants folks from near and far to come and discover the “Good Life” in the City of Bridges.
Drawing funds and impetus from a statewide recruitment campaign, which hopes to attract talent to North Dakota, Kara Anderson has taken up the mantle of community champion, and has been tirelessly working with recruiting and marketing firms to compete with larger cities in the state and help Valley City shine.
“Valley City, we’re having to compete for leads from Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Minot … we needed to elevate Valley City to stand out among these communities,” Anderson said. “So what we did was we … created this well-rounded marketing strategy.”
It’s not a matter of simply getting anyone to live and work in Valley City, but finding the perfect fit for the community. Highlighting the city’s strengths, like its recreation opportunities, this marketing campaign has identified which personality types would really thrive. Anderson said they have met with 25 total community members and employers, tried to narrow down what the issues were when it came to gaining and retaining a workforce.
“We’re really trying to hone in on … the quality of life in Valley City,” Anderson said.“You can have a great work-life balance.”
Several months-worth of work has culminated now in the impending launch of a landing page website, which will be the gateway to not only get a glimpse of Valley City’s allure, but also get a chance to meet the city’s best elements – its people – directly.
“An individual is more likely to travel across the country … when they have that personalized invitation,” Anderson said.
The EDC’s Annual Meeting and Banquet
last week served to emphasize the hard work and success that’s gone into bringing this initiative to fruition, and attendees heard from the marketing firms involved, as well as members of the EDC. Anderson told the Times-Record that the state’s own recruitment efforts have already borne fruit – they’ve gotten seven successful relocations in just five months, who all bring spouses and childrens, and there’s five more on the way.
Each relocation brings more people and injects fresh energy into the communities they join. These successful relocations have been from all over the country, from California to Texas to New Jersey to Washington state.
The call is out now for employers and businesses in the area to make themselves available for the EDC to connect prospective recruits to, to learn about what makes Valley City special. Contact Anderson at 701.490.3536 if you’d like to be included in this initiative.