PMA is pleased to feature guest blogger Elizabeth Newbould, the presenter for PMA’s April 2019 Lunch ‘n Learn meeting. Elizabeth is the Marketing Specialist at Pan-Oston and a Bowling Green Young Professionals chairperson. She taps into her Organizational Management skills with creative strategies as an advisory board member for Daymar College and volunteers at Hope House and Crossland Community Church.

Elizabeth’s presentation features the WHY for BG Young Professionals. Last year the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce surveyed hundreds of Young Professionals in our area, in an effort to help understand how to attract and retain talent. Many of the responses were surprising and unexpected – although the majority of the results will be presented on April 16^th – here are a few statistics that might provide value to you as a marketer or business owner:

66% of survey takers stated that they are a transplant to the area

62% of survey takers stated that building business relationships with others influences their likelihood of staying in the community

90% of young professionals stated that job was the deciding factor of staying in Bowling Green or moving! Job beat out the factor of family and friends by 25%

87% of respondents stated that being able to find local places for food, coffee, and music “after hours” is very or somewhat important

Key takeaways:

• Inviting young professionals to join organizations and helping them make connections is a key to helping retain talent in our area
• When your business hosts unique “after hour” events that are exciting and inviting it is are helping boost our cities growth
• With a large portion of our young proffesional not being from the area, quality jobs with a good work life balance are a driving factor in our economy.

In the end, what makes Bowling Green a great place to live and work is hospitality. Anytime you or I can demonstrate that hospitality by providing welcoming events, unique places, exciting jobs, or inviting organizations–then we are helping secure a bright future for our business and our area.