February 18, 2025 • 26 mins
Traverse City’s Northern Explorers spend a weekend experiencing what it’d be like to live in this beautiful community. In this episode, Abby Baudry of Traverse Connect and Michigan’s Creative Coast, joins us to share more about this program with a 50% success rate of relocation.
At Livability, we highlight the unsung awesomeness of small and mid-sized cities across the country. We also partner with communities to reach their target companies and potential residents through digital content and print magazine programs.
Be sure to subscribe so you’re alerted when we release new episodes. Learn more about us at LivabilityMedia.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email host Amanda Ellis at aellis@livability.com.
Inside America’s Best Cities is produced by SpeakEasy Productions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Abby [00:09]:
(00:01):
A big piece of it is the personal touch, and that's how we do it with the Northern Explorers. We try to keep it to a small group because that allows us to give each person more focus. So for us it's connecting them with our ambassadors so that they have a friendly face, they have a connection to the area, and then it's getting them not only professionally introduced through networking opportunities, but also so that they can meet some local people and see what their life could actually look like here.
Amanda [00:42]:
That's the voice of Abby Baudry with Traverse Connect and Michigan's Creative Coast. She's based in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan and joins us today to share about the community's Northern Explorers program, bringing in talent who are considering a move to the area for a long weekend visit. Love their work here and it's super replicable for other communities. You can learn more about this podcast at livabilitymedia.com, and with that, let's jump in. Welcome Abby to Inside America's Best Cities. We're so glad to have you.
Abby [01:15]:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Amanda [01:18]:
Excited to talk about Northern Explorers, more about Traverse City, which I actually had the opportunity to visit for a bachelorette party, of all things…
Abby [01:28]:
Nice. That's great to hear. We definitely have a lot of fun activities, especially for bachelorette groups and we're definitely known as a vacation destination, so it doesn't surprise me.
Amanda [01:39]:
It was a great spot. So pretty, we went to a lot of the wineries. It was still during pretty peak covid times. I think that was actually the first time I flew in the midst of an after all that, so we were very masked up, but we still had a really good time. But of course today we are here to talk about Northern Explorers. So can you start us off, Abby, by just sharing a high level overview of what that program is and then we'll delve into more of the details?
Abby [02:03]:
Yeah, definitely. So Northern Explorers is a program of Traverse Connect and Michigan's Creative Coast. Traverse Connect is the economic development organization for the Grand Traverse region of Michigan, which is sort of the pinky area if you're looking at the Michigan hand as US Michigander like to do,
Amanda [02:22]:
You forgot to do it.
Abby [02:24]:
I know. I didn't even show you. So Michigan's Creative Coast serves as our talent attraction and retention program. It's our way of showcasing the lifestyle and career opportunities here in the area. So we use the Northern Explorers as our in-person, very focused effort on inviting people to the region who want to move here. So every fall we invite between 10 to 15 individuals who have an interest in moving to the area. They come to town as our VIP guests and they attend two events with us. So we work to introduce them to potential future employers and potential future neighbors as those VIP guests. We pair them up with one of our Northern Navigator ambassadors, and if it gets confusing between the names, we like to think about it as the Northern Explorers are exploring their opportunities to move here and the navigators help them navigate the way and figure it out. So they get to meet with their navigator before coming to town. So they sort of have a friendly face when they get here and then they attend those two events with us.
Amanda [03:35]:
Very cool. So where'd the idea for this come from and how long have you all been doing it?
Abby [03:42]:
So it kind of launched alongside the launch of Michigan's Creative Coast. So back in 2021, we had our… speaking of covid, we had our first in-person event as the covid restrictions were lightening up and we wanted to premiere Michigan's Creative coast to the business community and have that in-person piece alongside it as we launched the brand. So we had our first ever Northern Explorers attend our event back in 2021 and they were able to come to town and a lot of them are here now. So we love seeing their faces around the community and knowing that they're here.
(00:22):
Amanda [04:23]:
Very cool. Creative Coast, that language sort of implies more like creative types. So what type of people are you trying to target through this program? Is it creatives or does that just kind of happen to be their name? What's the thought process there?
Abby [04:39]:
Michigan's Creative Coast was started from a statewide grant called the Creative Chambers Grant, and it really was leaning into elevating the creative sector of communities in order to attract people to move there because when people are deciding where they want to live, a vibrant arts and culture community is often a key piece to that decision. And so we do have a vibrant arts and culture community here that we like to elevate and we like to support that economy. However, since we launched, we've moved sort of away from just being creative. So we technically are sector agnostic now, so any industry we serve to support the job seekers in any industry.
Amanda [05:24]:
Gotcha. How do people apply for this? If it's something that they're interested in doing, how do you promote it? How does that work?
Abby [05:32]:
The application opens every September. We leave it open for a whole month. We mostly promote it ourselves organically. We work with a lot of partners across the state, including the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as well as our statewide educational institutions and community colleges, and then different organizations as well that we partner such as Global Detroit. So they all help us get the word out about the program to their audience of students and job seekers really across the country. So through the application we ask about their career experiences and their interests as well as about their connection to the Traverse City area, why they want to move here. And then we really try to bring a wide variety of industry backgrounds and different fields to town and sort of have a good mix.
Amanda [06:30]:
That makes sense. Since you are a smaller city overall, do you ever get interest from people in a field that maybe you just don't necessarily have a lot in and end up passing for that reason?
Abby [06:43]:
Surprisingly, I mean our economy has diversified a lot in the past 20 years. So even if we don't have an abundance of finance firms or design firms themselves, we have so many different industries that need finance people or design people that oftentimes those people can find an opportunity here. For example, one of our explorers, two years ago, she was hired to be a director of finance for the regional education program. And so even though she was a specialist in finance, she was able to come to the region and get hired into our education.
Amanda [07:24]:
That makes sense. And you mentioned too, you look at why they have an interest in coming to town and I was reading over the bios from your most recent class, which I'll have to link up in the show notes just for reference, but it did seem like a lot of people maybe grew up in Michigan, sort of a boomerang type deal, even though it might not be to the exact same city. So what are some things you see there in terms of what's attracting people?
Abby [07:47]:
That's right. So a lot of them are boomerangs. We've had quite a few people that grew up in Traverse City, move to the west coast and then they want to find their way back home. But really it's our lifestyle here. It's what attracted me to move here. I'm actually originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but I grew up coming every summer and for Christmases to visit family and I just fell in love with the area and with the people. We have really unparalleled outdoor recreation. You can drive 10 to 30 minutes in any direction and you'll hit a beautiful body of water, or a mountain biking trail or the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It's really world-class outdoor recreation opportunities. And then also, like I mentioned, our arts and culture community as well. I don’t know if you've heard of Interlochen Center for the Arts, but it's a world-renowned arts and music school and there've been some world-famous people that come out of there. So they have performances all summer long. They have an arts camp and then they also have a session all during the school year as well. So we're surrounded by not only our outdoor resources, but also a vibrant community as well and people want to move here for that quality of life.
Amanda [09:06]:
Yeah, sounds like there's a lot to pick from and it is really beautiful. I mean I can attest to that too. So they come in for this long weekend, as you said, VIP, guests of your all’s. So what does that weekend look like? Does it vary year to year? Do you kind of have a structure and then does anything take place outside of that for this group or it really is as far as your program, just that one Friday to Sunday type deal?
Abby [09:33]:
It's mostly the weekend. They do meet with their ambassador before coming to town virtually. So then they at least have that friendly face before coming to town. So first they arrive on Friday and they attend our Fresh Coast Quarterly Club through Michigan's Creative Coast. And that's really a soft landing for them. It's more of a laid back networking, more of a socializing opportunity so that they can meet the other explorers and meet some of the creative coast regulars that come to our events on a regular basis. Then so far the weekend has been up to them what they would like to do. Some of them have stayed with friends and family, some of them stayed together so far, we haven't had a structured activity during the weekend. That's something that we want to look into moving forward, whether it's a volunteer opportunity or an activity that we can do together, like going on a tour of the Lakeshore or something like that. That's something that we're looking at moving into the future. And then on Monday they attend our annual economic summit, which is our largest event for the business community of Northern Michigan, and it's their opportunity to network with over 600 local business people.
Amanda [10:49]:
(00:43):
Gotcha. So are there expenses paid to do this or is some of it, how does that part work?
Abby [10:55]:
Some of it is reimbursed. It depends on our partnerships and sponsorship that we can lock in every year. We would love to get to a point where we have funding to fully cover their expenses because Traverse City's not necessarily close to people, especially if they're coming in from out of state. So our goal is to one day be able to cover that weekend, but not currently.
Amanda [11:20]:
Okay, gotcha. But maybe some support there, but kind of varies depending upon the year? That makes sense. So thinking about measuring success with this, how are you doing that? What metrics are you looking at with it?
Abby [11:34]:
We mostly look at relocations and successful hires through the program. So we've had 42 total participants in the four years that we've done it. And then I was looking the other day and 19 of them have moved here, so that's almost half. Yeah, we're pretty happy with that.
Amanda [11:55]:
50% success rate is pretty solid.
Abby [11:58]:
Yeah, yeah, we'll take it.
Amanda [12:00]:
Yeah. Any favorite, like a favorite success story that you could tell us about someone making that transition through this?
Abby [12:08]:
There are a couple. One of them that comes to mind is a woman from the first class. She was originally from the area and she was living out in Juneau, Alaska for I think over 10 years and she wanted to make her way back home, so she was able to secure a remote job and then she worked with her northern navigator on the housing issue because that can be an issue when coming to town and some people will wonder about that. But our chief Northern Navigator, her name is Meg Zammit, she's also a realtor, so she was able to help that woman find a house and then she was able to move back home and bring her remote job with her, which is always one of my favorite stories.
Amanda [12:54]:
That was going to be one of my questions too. Have any remote workers participated and do you have any preference related to that? I mean, if anything, it's even easier to make that move if you're not having to worry about finding a job there first.
Abby [13:07]:
Right. First and foremost, our goal of the program is to support our local businesses who are looking for job seekers, but we have had remote workers every year of the program. Some of them have worked for companies located in California or wherever across the country. Some of them have brought their own remote companies and brought them to town here. So it's been a little bit of a mixed bag.
Amanda [13:36]:
That seems like a good way to approach it. It's not your targeted group necessarily, but if a few end up in the mix then…
(01:04):
Abby [13:43]:
And it sort of fulfills our business attraction if they're bringing their own businesses with them. And we've also seen quite a bit of success when remote workers initially moved to town with a remote job and then they get integrated with the community and then they end up getting a local job.
Amanda [13:58]:
That is interesting you would bring that up because that's something I've talked about in presentations before to groups when you're talking about why is talent attraction important and that remote worker piece, which I feel like is a little less top of mind now perhaps with a lot of just everything's about return-to-office headline and things like that. But in terms of why locals, what benefit is there for them for remote workers to move in and I think you just hit one. Just because they don't work for a local company when they come doesn't mean they never will.
Abby [14:28]:
Right, exactly. Like numbers are there to show it.
Amanda [14:31]:
Yeah. So that's a great point. You talked a little bit about bringing up some of these other concerns people might have about making a relocation housing being one that you already mentioned, access to childcare might be another one, just different things people are thinking about. So are you all addressing any of those necessarily what you described sounded more of a one-off thing that happened and you were able to help someone, but programmatically is that part of this thought process?
Abby [15:02]:
So our team of ambassadors, the Northern Navigators, they're sort of trained. They are regional experts and they are there to give advice on those different things. So we provide information for people through those sort of personal one-on-one interactions. We have 16 ambassadors and they come from a wide variety of careers and also experiences moving here or being from here themselves. So they're able to offer advice on those trickier aspects of making the move. I'd also like to add an important piece of the program is that we share their resumes and their bios for a whole month before they come to town. So with our business community audience that we have through Traverse Connect, we're blasting their resumes to potential employers. And so that employer knows when the explorer is coming to town who they want to connect with, they've already reviewed their resume, they know that they could be a good fit for their company as far as programmatically, that's how we best support people.
Amanda [16:12]:
That makes sense. Would love to hear a little bit, and you've addressed this some along and along, but in terms of how this contributes to Michigan's long-term economic development talent goals, and I know as a state Michigan is really doing so much that I think a lot of other states, a lot of other communities, can draw a lot of inspiration from the talent piece being a big part of that. But can you connect the dots there a little bit in terms of how this fits into the overall strategy?
Abby [16:40]:
Definitely. So Michigan has been sort of struggling with a stagnant population for a while, and actually this past year we saw 1% increase in our population, which was an improvement. We're all excited about that. So part of that goal is attracting people here from out-of-state. And so through our Northern Explorers program, that's our most targeted and direct effort to bring people here from out-of-state to not only grow our little population here in the corner of the state, but to contribute to the overall population as well. And not only has the population been sort of plateaued for a while, it's also been aging. So we're really working to get those early to mid-career professionals here and that's part of our focus with the program as well.
Amanda [17:31]:
Yeah. Any advice you would give to other communities looking to do that same thing, attracting talent from elsewhere?
Abby [17:39]:
I'd say a big piece of it is the personal touch, and that's how we do it with the Northern Explorers. We try to keep it to a small group, like I said, 10 to 15 people because that allows us to give each person more focus. And I think different communities or different organizations have different capacity for that one-on-one handholding for people that are interested in moving to a place, be able to get them from the interest stage to actually moving. So for us, it's connecting them with our ambassadors so that they have a friendly face, they have a connection to the area, and then it's getting them not only professionally introduced through networking opportunities, but also so that they can meet some local people and see what their life could actually look like here.
Amanda [18:27]:
Yeah, I love that. It's interesting because I do think it's important to have that personal touch, but it does take bandwidth and then you think about how many people might you have those personal touches with who don't end up making the move for whatever reason, not even necessarily because they weren't serious about it, but it just didn't work out for whatever reason. So there is a time investment piece with that that sometimes pays off and sometimes maybe doesn't.
Abby [18:51]:
(01:25):
Right. Which we'd love to expand the program in the future to not only just be in the fall, but be during the summer perhaps for interns. We have big dreams for the future of the program, but when it comes to capacity right now we're really focused on the fall program and being able to help people get here.
Amanda [19:09]:
Yeah. Well, what I love too is I was definitely curious what your response was going to be to the expenses question, but if you're, I mean, it's even more replicable to other communities if you're saying that these are people that have enough of an interest that they're willing to front at least some of the cost to have this curated experience and this curated networking experience too.
Abby [19:32]:
And year after year, more obviously, the more success we have with the program, the more that outside entities see the importance of it and that it's paying off and the more that they're willing to buy in.
Amanda [19:45]:
Well, paying off in a lot of different ways too, because something that we at Livability, of course, are always looking at how are people getting information about communities? And we know a lot of that is the digital presence, so the headlines, social media, content, all of that good stuff. But word of mouth is also a big one, just what they're hearing about it. And so that's something else I love about this is even that 50% that didn't move, of course they told everyone about this cool thing they were doing.
Abby [20:13]:
Right, and they're likely to have that connection still so that maybe they didn't move here the year after doing the program, but maybe a few years down the road they're able to come back because they have that connection.
Amanda [20:25]:
Yeah! So I love how we're seeing what you're doing kind of hit all of those different benchmarks. That’s really cool. So this last question, well, we always end with a fun closer question, but before we get to that, so thinking about the employment piece and how maybe there’s a small subset of people who would up and move without a job, but I think we're seeing more and more, most people kind of need that part nailed down before they just upend everything and go. And so what I think is interesting about a lot of talent attraction efforts is they can only address that part so much of getting somebody a job, they can loop in local employers, they can get that interest piece, but they can't fully make that piece fit necessarily. So I guess I would just like to hear any comments you have on that. And traditionally I would say that job hunting out in a market you're not already in can be really hard.
Abby [21:30]:
Yeah. For us, it's sort of like a drip campaign because sometimes the job search is a long ongoing process, and so we like to stay in touch with people. We have different ways for them to engage, whether it's right after the program and we're doing follow-up or it's with our resume pack that we have, they can add their resume to that, which we send out every week to a list of over 300 employers and then also our job boards. So we're trying to keep them engaged. The job board has new positions posted every day pretty much. So we're keeping them, we're trying to stay at the top of their mind over and over again that it's possible to make the move here. And then for the employer side, for instance, in our resume pack, we ask them their level of interest or how active they are in their decision to move here. Whether we ask, will you move here regardless of having a job, are you moving here within the next year? Are you sort of passively looking for opportunities so employers can get a view of that from how actively they're looking to move here. So really it's staying engaged and that's my job is really promoting our area and that it is possible to make them move here and get your career launched here. So yeah.
Amanda [22:58]:
In terms of keeping employers engaged with all of that, would you say that part of the impetus for this program is that you need people enough that employers are really eager to get to those, that expert talent versus you having to try really hard to get them to understand why maybe they should put up with an interview process for somebody that isn't already there?
Abby [23:23]:
So we actually launched Michigan's Creative Coast for the strategic priority of fulfilling talent needs here because our employers, our business community was shouting from the rooftops that they need people. And so they sort of inherently know the importance of engaging with these job seekers. And that's why it's helpful for us that we have the Traverse Connect audience and that is more of our employer base and it goes hand in hand with our Michigan's creative coast job seeker audience. So we're able to bridge the gap and bring those two together.
Amanda [23:58]:
Makes sense. Anything else you'd like to add about the program before we move to our fun closer question?
Abby [24:05]:
Oh man. I'm just really excited to see how it grows. It's an ever evolving thing. I would love to be able to be a tour guide and be able to take people around the region, and maybe it's not a wine tour, but maybe it is, but really getting people to see how amazing it is to live here. And even though it's just a weekend long, they can get a full glimpse into what life is like here. And yeah, I'm just really excited to see where it goes.
(01:46):
Amanda [24:34]:
Yeah. Well, you talked a little bit about your Traverse City journey of your own already a little bit, but thinking about if someone were to visit for the first time, what's one thing they should make sure to do in your opinion?
Abby [24:47]:
Oh my gosh.
Amanda [24:48]:
If you had to pick one or two.
Abby [24:49]:
One thing is so hard, I would definitely encourage them to go on a hike in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. One of my favorites is called Pyramid Point. I won't give too much away, but it's not that hard of a hike. It's pretty accessible. And when you get to the top, it's pretty remarkable. And that just is one of the many things that you can enjoy that's like right in your backyard.
Amanda [25:16]:
Yes. Well, you're certainly in such a beautiful part of the country and I really appreciate you taking a few minutes to share about some of the work that you're doing.
Abby [25:24]:
Thank you so much for having me. It's been super exciting. And the more that we can get the word out about our program, the more people we can help.
Amanda [25:35]:
Thanks for listening to the Livability podcast, where we take you Inside America's Best Cities. At Livability, we highlight the unsung awesomeness of small and mid-sized cities across the country. We also partner with communities to reach their target companies and potential residents through digital content and print magazine programs. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review this show. Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can also learn more about us at livabilitymedia.com. Have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email me at aellis@livability.com. Until next time, from Livability, I'm Amanda Ellis, sharing the stories of America's most promising places.
Abby [00:09]:
(00:01):
A big piece of it is the personal touch, and that's how we do it with the Northern Explorers. We try to keep it to a small group because that allows us to give each person more focus. So for us it's connecting them with our ambassadors so that they have a friendly face, they have a connection to the area, and then it's getting them not only professionally introduced through networking opportunities, but also so that they can meet some local people and see what their life could actually look like here.
Amanda [00:42]:
That's the voice of Abby Baudry with Traverse Connect and Michigan's Creative Coast. She's based in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan and joins us today to share about the community's Northern Explorers program, bringing in talent who are considering a move to the area for a long weekend visit. Love their work here and it's super replicable for other communities. You can learn more about this podcast at livabilitymedia.com, and with that, let's jump in. Welcome Abby to Inside America's Best Cities. We're so glad to have you.
Abby [01:15]:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Amanda [01:18]:
Excited to talk about Northern Explorers, more about Traverse City, which I actually had the opportunity to visit for a bachelorette party, of all things…
Abby [01:28]:
Nice. That's great to hear. We definitely have a lot of fun activities, especially for bachelorette groups and we're definitely known as a vacation destination, so it doesn't surprise me.
Amanda [01:39]:
It was a great spot. So pretty, we went to a lot of the wineries. It was still during pretty peak covid times. I think that was actually the first time I flew in the midst of an after all that, so we were very masked up, but we still had a really good time. But of course today we are here to talk about Northern Explorers. So can you start us off, Abby, by just sharing a high level overview of what that program is and then we'll delve into more of the details?
Abby [02:03]:
Yeah, definitely. So Northern Explorers is a program of Traverse Connect and Michigan's Creative Coast. Traverse Connect is the economic development organization for the Grand Traverse region of Michigan, which is sort of the pinky area if you're looking at the Michigan hand as US Michigander like to do,
Amanda [02:22]:
You forgot to do it.
Abby [02:24]:
I know. I didn't even show you. So Michigan's Creative Coast serves as our talent attraction and retention program. It's our way of showcasing the lifestyle and career opportunities here in the area. So we use the Northern Explorers as our in-person, very focused effort on inviting people to the region who want to move here. So every fall we invite between 10 to 15 individuals who have an interest in moving to the area. They come to town as our VIP guests and they attend two events with us. So we work to introduce them to potential future employers and potential future neighbors as those VIP guests. We pair them up with one of our Northern Navigator ambassadors, and if it gets confusing between the names, we like to think about it as the Northern Explorers are exploring their opportunities to move here and the navigators help them navigate the way and figure it out. So they get to meet with their navigator before coming to town. So they sort of have a friendly face when they get here and then they attend those two events with us.
Amanda [03:35]:
Very cool. So where'd the idea for this come from and how long have you all been doing it?
Abby [03:42]:
So it kind of launched alongside the launch of Michigan's Creative Coast. So back in 2021, we had our… speaking of covid, we had our first in-person event as the covid restrictions were lightening up and we wanted to premiere Michigan's Creative coast to the business community and have that in-person piece alongside it as we launched the brand. So we had our first ever Northern Explorers attend our event back in 2021 and they were able to come to town and a lot of them are here now. So we love seeing their faces around the community and knowing that they're here.
(00:22):
Amanda [04:23]:
Very cool. Creative Coast, that language sort of implies more like creative types. So what type of people are you trying to target through this program? Is it creatives or does that just kind of happen to be their name? What's the thought process there?
Abby [04:39]:
Michigan's Creative Coast was started from a statewide grant called the Creative Chambers Grant, and it really was leaning into elevating the creative sector of communities in order to attract people to move there because when people are deciding where they want to live, a vibrant arts and culture community is often a key piece to that decision. And so we do have a vibrant arts and culture community here that we like to elevate and we like to support that economy. However, since we launched, we've moved sort of away from just being creative. So we technically are sector agnostic now, so any industry we serve to support the job seekers in any industry.
Amanda [05:24]:
Gotcha. How do people apply for this? If it's something that they're interested in doing, how do you promote it? How does that work?
Abby [05:32]:
The application opens every September. We leave it open for a whole month. We mostly promote it ourselves organically. We work with a lot of partners across the state, including the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as well as our statewide educational institutions and community colleges, and then different organizations as well that we partner such as Global Detroit. So they all help us get the word out about the program to their audience of students and job seekers really across the country. So through the application we ask about their career experiences and their interests as well as about their connection to the Traverse City area, why they want to move here. And then we really try to bring a wide variety of industry backgrounds and different fields to town and sort of have a good mix.
Amanda [06:30]:
That makes sense. Since you are a smaller city overall, do you ever get interest from people in a field that maybe you just don't necessarily have a lot in and end up passing for that reason?
Abby [06:43]:
Surprisingly, I mean our economy has diversified a lot in the past 20 years. So even if we don't have an abundance of finance firms or design firms themselves, we have so many different industries that need finance people or design people that oftentimes those people can find an opportunity here. For example, one of our explorers, two years ago, she was hired to be a director of finance for the regional education program. And so even though she was a specialist in finance, she was able to come to the region and get hired into our education.
Amanda [07:24]:
That makes sense. And you mentioned too, you look at why they have an interest in coming to town and I was reading over the bios from your most recent class, which I'll have to link up in the show notes just for reference, but it did seem like a lot of people maybe grew up in Michigan, sort of a boomerang type deal, even though it might not be to the exact same city. So what are some things you see there in terms of what's attracting people?
Abby [07:47]:
That's right. So a lot of them are boomerangs. We've had quite a few people that grew up in Traverse City, move to the west coast and then they want to find their way back home. But really it's our lifestyle here. It's what attracted me to move here. I'm actually originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but I grew up coming every summer and for Christmases to visit family and I just fell in love with the area and with the people. We have really unparalleled outdoor recreation. You can drive 10 to 30 minutes in any direction and you'll hit a beautiful body of water, or a mountain biking trail or the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It's really world-class outdoor recreation opportunities. And then also, like I mentioned, our arts and culture community as well. I don’t know if you've heard of Interlochen Center for the Arts, but it's a world-renowned arts and music school and there've been some world-famous people that come out of there. So they have performances all summer long. They have an arts camp and then they also have a session all during the school year as well. So we're surrounded by not only our outdoor resources, but also a vibrant community as well and people want to move here for that quality of life.
Amanda [09:06]:
Yeah, sounds like there's a lot to pick from and it is really beautiful. I mean I can attest to that too. So they come in for this long weekend, as you said, VIP, guests of your all’s. So what does that weekend look like? Does it vary year to year? Do you kind of have a structure and then does anything take place outside of that for this group or it really is as far as your program, just that one Friday to Sunday type deal?
Abby [09:33]:
It's mostly the weekend. They do meet with their ambassador before coming to town virtually. So then they at least have that friendly face before coming to town. So first they arrive on Friday and they attend our Fresh Coast Quarterly Club through Michigan's Creative Coast. And that's really a soft landing for them. It's more of a laid back networking, more of a socializing opportunity so that they can meet the other explorers and meet some of the creative coast regulars that come to our events on a regular basis. Then so far the weekend has been up to them what they would like to do. Some of them have stayed with friends and family, some of them stayed together so far, we haven't had a structured activity during the weekend. That's something that we want to look into moving forward, whether it's a volunteer opportunity or an activity that we can do together, like going on a tour of the Lakeshore or something like that. That's something that we're looking at moving into the future. And then on Monday they attend our annual economic summit, which is our largest event for the business community of Northern Michigan, and it's their opportunity to network with over 600 local business people.
Amanda [10:49]:
(00:43):
Gotcha. So are there expenses paid to do this or is some of it, how does that part work?
Abby [10:55]:
Some of it is reimbursed. It depends on our partnerships and sponsorship that we can lock in every year. We would love to get to a point where we have funding to fully cover their expenses because Traverse City's not necessarily close to people, especially if they're coming in from out of state. So our goal is to one day be able to cover that weekend, but not currently.
Amanda [11:20]:
Okay, gotcha. But maybe some support there, but kind of varies depending upon the year? That makes sense. So thinking about measuring success with this, how are you doing that? What metrics are you looking at with it?
Abby [11:34]:
We mostly look at relocations and successful hires through the program. So we've had 42 total participants in the four years that we've done it. And then I was looking the other day and 19 of them have moved here, so that's almost half. Yeah, we're pretty happy with that.
Amanda [11:55]:
50% success rate is pretty solid.
Abby [11:58]:
Yeah, yeah, we'll take it.
Amanda [12:00]:
Yeah. Any favorite, like a favorite success story that you could tell us about someone making that transition through this?
Abby [12:08]:
There are a couple. One of them that comes to mind is a woman from the first class. She was originally from the area and she was living out in Juneau, Alaska for I think over 10 years and she wanted to make her way back home, so she was able to secure a remote job and then she worked with her northern navigator on the housing issue because that can be an issue when coming to town and some people will wonder about that. But our chief Northern Navigator, her name is Meg Zammit, she's also a realtor, so she was able to help that woman find a house and then she was able to move back home and bring her remote job with her, which is always one of my favorite stories.
Amanda [12:54]:
That was going to be one of my questions too. Have any remote workers participated and do you have any preference related to that? I mean, if anything, it's even easier to make that move if you're not having to worry about finding a job there first.
Abby [13:07]:
Right. First and foremost, our goal of the program is to support our local businesses who are looking for job seekers, but we have had remote workers every year of the program. Some of them have worked for companies located in California or wherever across the country. Some of them have brought their own remote companies and brought them to town here. So it's been a little bit of a mixed bag.
Amanda [13:36]:
That seems like a good way to approach it. It's not your targeted group necessarily, but if a few end up in the mix then…
(01:04):
Abby [13:43]:
And it sort of fulfills our business attraction if they're bringing their own businesses with them. And we've also seen quite a bit of success when remote workers initially moved to town with a remote job and then they get integrated with the community and then they end up getting a local job.
Amanda [13:58]:
That is interesting you would bring that up because that's something I've talked about in presentations before to groups when you're talking about why is talent attraction important and that remote worker piece, which I feel like is a little less top of mind now perhaps with a lot of just everything's about return-to-office headline and things like that. But in terms of why locals, what benefit is there for them for remote workers to move in and I think you just hit one. Just because they don't work for a local company when they come doesn't mean they never will.
Abby [14:28]:
Right, exactly. Like numbers are there to show it.
Amanda [14:31]:
Yeah. So that's a great point. You talked a little bit about bringing up some of these other concerns people might have about making a relocation housing being one that you already mentioned, access to childcare might be another one, just different things people are thinking about. So are you all addressing any of those necessarily what you described sounded more of a one-off thing that happened and you were able to help someone, but programmatically is that part of this thought process?
Abby [15:02]:
So our team of ambassadors, the Northern Navigators, they're sort of trained. They are regional experts and they are there to give advice on those different things. So we provide information for people through those sort of personal one-on-one interactions. We have 16 ambassadors and they come from a wide variety of careers and also experiences moving here or being from here themselves. So they're able to offer advice on those trickier aspects of making the move. I'd also like to add an important piece of the program is that we share their resumes and their bios for a whole month before they come to town. So with our business community audience that we have through Traverse Connect, we're blasting their resumes to potential employers. And so that employer knows when the explorer is coming to town who they want to connect with, they've already reviewed their resume, they know that they could be a good fit for their company as far as programmatically, that's how we best support people.
Amanda [16:12]:
That makes sense. Would love to hear a little bit, and you've addressed this some along and along, but in terms of how this contributes to Michigan's long-term economic development talent goals, and I know as a state Michigan is really doing so much that I think a lot of other states, a lot of other communities, can draw a lot of inspiration from the talent piece being a big part of that. But can you connect the dots there a little bit in terms of how this fits into the overall strategy?
Abby [16:40]:
Definitely. So Michigan has been sort of struggling with a stagnant population for a while, and actually this past year we saw 1% increase in our population, which was an improvement. We're all excited about that. So part of that goal is attracting people here from out-of-state. And so through our Northern Explorers program, that's our most targeted and direct effort to bring people here from out-of-state to not only grow our little population here in the corner of the state, but to contribute to the overall population as well. And not only has the population been sort of plateaued for a while, it's also been aging. So we're really working to get those early to mid-career professionals here and that's part of our focus with the program as well.
Amanda [17:31]:
Yeah. Any advice you would give to other communities looking to do that same thing, attracting talent from elsewhere?
Abby [17:39]:
I'd say a big piece of it is the personal touch, and that's how we do it with the Northern Explorers. We try to keep it to a small group, like I said, 10 to 15 people because that allows us to give each person more focus. And I think different communities or different organizations have different capacity for that one-on-one handholding for people that are interested in moving to a place, be able to get them from the interest stage to actually moving. So for us, it's connecting them with our ambassadors so that they have a friendly face, they have a connection to the area, and then it's getting them not only professionally introduced through networking opportunities, but also so that they can meet some local people and see what their life could actually look like here.
Amanda [18:27]:
Yeah, I love that. It's interesting because I do think it's important to have that personal touch, but it does take bandwidth and then you think about how many people might you have those personal touches with who don't end up making the move for whatever reason, not even necessarily because they weren't serious about it, but it just didn't work out for whatever reason. So there is a time investment piece with that that sometimes pays off and sometimes maybe doesn't.
Abby [18:51]:
(01:25):
Right. Which we'd love to expand the program in the future to not only just be in the fall, but be during the summer perhaps for interns. We have big dreams for the future of the program, but when it comes to capacity right now we're really focused on the fall program and being able to help people get here.
Amanda [19:09]:
Yeah. Well, what I love too is I was definitely curious what your response was going to be to the expenses question, but if you're, I mean, it's even more replicable to other communities if you're saying that these are people that have enough of an interest that they're willing to front at least some of the cost to have this curated experience and this curated networking experience too.
Abby [19:32]:
And year after year, more obviously, the more success we have with the program, the more that outside entities see the importance of it and that it's paying off and the more that they're willing to buy in.
Amanda [19:45]:
Well, paying off in a lot of different ways too, because something that we at Livability, of course, are always looking at how are people getting information about communities? And we know a lot of that is the digital presence, so the headlines, social media, content, all of that good stuff. But word of mouth is also a big one, just what they're hearing about it. And so that's something else I love about this is even that 50% that didn't move, of course they told everyone about this cool thing they were doing.
Abby [20:13]:
Right, and they're likely to have that connection still so that maybe they didn't move here the year after doing the program, but maybe a few years down the road they're able to come back because they have that connection.
Amanda [20:25]:
Yeah! So I love how we're seeing what you're doing kind of hit all of those different benchmarks. That’s really cool. So this last question, well, we always end with a fun closer question, but before we get to that, so thinking about the employment piece and how maybe there’s a small subset of people who would up and move without a job, but I think we're seeing more and more, most people kind of need that part nailed down before they just upend everything and go. And so what I think is interesting about a lot of talent attraction efforts is they can only address that part so much of getting somebody a job, they can loop in local employers, they can get that interest piece, but they can't fully make that piece fit necessarily. So I guess I would just like to hear any comments you have on that. And traditionally I would say that job hunting out in a market you're not already in can be really hard.
Abby [21:30]:
Yeah. For us, it's sort of like a drip campaign because sometimes the job search is a long ongoing process, and so we like to stay in touch with people. We have different ways for them to engage, whether it's right after the program and we're doing follow-up or it's with our resume pack that we have, they can add their resume to that, which we send out every week to a list of over 300 employers and then also our job boards. So we're trying to keep them engaged. The job board has new positions posted every day pretty much. So we're keeping them, we're trying to stay at the top of their mind over and over again that it's possible to make the move here. And then for the employer side, for instance, in our resume pack, we ask them their level of interest or how active they are in their decision to move here. Whether we ask, will you move here regardless of having a job, are you moving here within the next year? Are you sort of passively looking for opportunities so employers can get a view of that from how actively they're looking to move here. So really it's staying engaged and that's my job is really promoting our area and that it is possible to make them move here and get your career launched here. So yeah.
Amanda [22:58]:
In terms of keeping employers engaged with all of that, would you say that part of the impetus for this program is that you need people enough that employers are really eager to get to those, that expert talent versus you having to try really hard to get them to understand why maybe they should put up with an interview process for somebody that isn't already there?
Abby [23:23]:
So we actually launched Michigan's Creative Coast for the strategic priority of fulfilling talent needs here because our employers, our business community was shouting from the rooftops that they need people. And so they sort of inherently know the importance of engaging with these job seekers. And that's why it's helpful for us that we have the Traverse Connect audience and that is more of our employer base and it goes hand in hand with our Michigan's creative coast job seeker audience. So we're able to bridge the gap and bring those two together.
Amanda [23:58]:
Makes sense. Anything else you'd like to add about the program before we move to our fun closer question?
Abby [24:05]:
Oh man. I'm just really excited to see how it grows. It's an ever evolving thing. I would love to be able to be a tour guide and be able to take people around the region, and maybe it's not a wine tour, but maybe it is, but really getting people to see how amazing it is to live here. And even though it's just a weekend long, they can get a full glimpse into what life is like here. And yeah, I'm just really excited to see where it goes.
(01:46):
Amanda [24:34]:
Yeah. Well, you talked a little bit about your Traverse City journey of your own already a little bit, but thinking about if someone were to visit for the first time, what's one thing they should make sure to do in your opinion?
Abby [24:47]:
Oh my gosh.
Amanda [24:48]:
If you had to pick one or two.
Abby [24:49]:
One thing is so hard, I would definitely encourage them to go on a hike in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. One of my favorites is called Pyramid Point. I won't give too much away, but it's not that hard of a hike. It's pretty accessible. And when you get to the top, it's pretty remarkable. And that just is one of the many things that you can enjoy that's like right in your backyard.
Amanda [25:16]:
Yes. Well, you're certainly in such a beautiful part of the country and I really appreciate you taking a few minutes to share about some of the work that you're doing.
Abby [25:24]:
Thank you so much for having me. It's been super exciting. And the more that we can get the word out about our program, the more people we can help.
Amanda [25:35]:
Thanks for listening to the Livability podcast, where we take you Inside America's Best Cities. At Livability, we highlight the unsung awesomeness of small and mid-sized cities across the country. We also partner with communities to reach their target companies and potential residents through digital content and print magazine programs. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and review this show. Wherever you listen to podcasts, you can also learn more about us at livabilitymedia.com. Have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email me at aellis@livability.com. Until next time, from Livability, I'm Amanda Ellis, sharing the stories of America's most promising places.
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