Greensboro's Out-of-the-Box Approach to Talent Attraction

Greensboro, North Carolina, has undergone an impressive transformation over the past 20 years. In the last three years, the city revitalized its identity and attracted talent through an award-winning, bold, data-driven strategy led by Cecelia Thompson, Executive Director at Action Greensboro—one of many efforts fueling the area's growth.

Central to their strategy is the use of Lightcast’s Talent Migration Dashboards. "Our big challenge was figuring out where our aviation talent was going, and the Lightcast Talent Migration data was a real eye-opener for us," Thompson said.

Action Greensboro is a collaboration of eight local charitable foundations. In collaboration with business, higher education, and municipal government, Action Greensboro works to strengthen Greensboro's economy and ensure the continuation of its excellent quality of life.

Recognized for Excellence: Action Greensboro was recognized as a winner in the City Nation Place Awards 2024 for Best Communication Strategy in Economic Development. Additionally, we're proud that Action Greensboro + Lightcast were honored as a finalist for Best Use of Data at the same award show.

The Question

Where Was Talent Going, and How to Draw Them Back?

In 2019, Greensboro confronted a common challenge faced by many mid-sized cities: an aging population paired with a stagnant under-45 demographic. At the same time, the city was experiencing a thriving arts scene, renewed interest from employers, new green spaces, and trendy new venues.

Yet, Greensboro struggled to shake off its outdated identity from two decades ago. To attract young talent, Greensboro needed to showcase who it had become—a vibrant city that had grown up!

Action Greensboro, together with 25 community members, met to strategize on how they could solve this problem. They identified a key trend—former residents, or “boomerangs,” who were coming back to Greensboro and taking on leadership roles in the community. 

These "Boomerangs" became the cornerstone of their talent attraction campaign. They set a goal to attract 25 new families to the city annually. 

Shortly after, the pandemic hit, putting their plans on hold—but not for too long. As people sought refuge from crowded cities, the trend unexpectedly reinforced their vision. Families were seeking the type of affordable, high-quality lifestyle that Greensboro could offer.

However, a challenge remained: Where were people leaving Greensboro for? And how to convince them to make the move back home?

Recognizing the shift in people’s needs, Action Greensboro ramped up efforts to bring talent back home. Their strategy focused on "Boomerangs" – recruiting individuals who had once called Greensboro home, whether as natives, college students or professionals.

They started by gathering a focus group of “Boomerangs” to understand what brought them back to Greensboro and how life felt after returning. These insights became the foundation of their “Boomerang Campaign: You Grew Up, So Did Greensboro.” They built a comprehensive, well-crafted, and highly effective campaign with multiple touchpoints that was sent to 200 contacts which included items such as:

• "Boomerang Boxes” sent to potential returnees. The care package contained items that showcased Greensboro's progress, including locally sourced treats, updates on revitalized schools, parks, its vibrant nightlife, and cost-of-living comparisons

• Quarterly postcards highlighting Greensboro's latest developments

• Advertisements and digital videos

• Concierge service for serious prospects, offering personalized support for relocation, job connections and settling in

• Access to a curated network of business leaders who share job leads 

For the next phase of the campaign, they focused on Greensboro’s growing aviation sector.

“As we built the campaign, data became an important part of our strategy. When we learned about the new talent migration tool that allows you to see where people are moving to and from by your MSA, we knew it would help refine our targeting—especially for the aviation sector,” Thompson explained. 

“The Lightcast Talent Migration data was a real eye-opener. It showed us that the top destination for aviation professionals was Indianapolis, which shocked us—we all would have expected places like Seattle, Charleston, or Wichita to come up first. With this insight, we developed a campaign aimed at bringing aviation professionals back to Greensboro. We launched targeted Hulu commercials airing in Indianapolis, showcasing Greensboro's booming aviation scene.”

The Talent Migration Dashboard provides insights into talent movement in and out of your MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area):

• Shows where people are moving to and from • Highlights trends in demographics, occupations, and education levels • Identifies which areas are attracting talent and which ones are losing it • Offers valuable information to shape your talent attraction and retention strategies

Action Greensboro has welcomed back over 85 families—far exceeding their original goal of 25 families.

They have achieved the following milestones:

• Brought 85 families back home to Greensboro

• Engaged more than 23,000 on social media and digital content

• Fielded more than 200 inquiries through their concierge service

• Garnered 45 local and national media mentions and conference appearances
  
  

In a short time, the Indianapolis Hulu commercial aimed at the Aviation sector reached 7,247 devices and 11,173 views. This campaign has proven how powerful data-driven decisions and industry-specific outreach are in bringing top talent back to Greensboro. 

“As we move forward, we're eager to take the success of our aviation strategy and apply it to other growing industries. These data-driven insights help us identify where we need to go to connect with the talent we need,” says Thompson

“We're excited to see how we can take this further, especially in critical areas like healthcare and nursing, where demand for talent is high.” 

What’s Ahead

Greensboro's out-of-the-box talent attraction campaign has proven that a city's story can be rewritten. By tapping into "Boomerangs", the community, leveraging data, and building a creative campaign, Action Greensboro showed how a well-thought-out strategy can succeed.

Their efforts didn’t just bring talent home—they set the stage for lasting community growth. Their approach shows how a city can blend heart and strategy to reclaim its talent and pave the way for a bright, sustainable future. This is just the beginning of Greensboro’s story. After all, we’re never done growing up!

We're building connections between new returnees and the community—making them mentors and role models for future Boomerangs. Our goal is to create a cycle of growth, support, and community-building that keeps Greensboro thriving.