County’s talent attraction effort delivers 5,000 prospects

More than 5,000 high-skill professionals across the country expressed interest in relocating to Hamilton County, according to an innovative talent attraction initiative of the Hamilton County Economic Development Corporation (HCEDC), dba Invest Hamilton County. The initiative will connect these individuals to interested employers throughout Hamilton County.

HCEDC signed a partnership agreement with TMap in 2020 with funds granted by the Hamilton County Commissioners and County Council. Founded in 2017 by Angie’s List Co-Founder Bill Oesterle, TMap uses big data and targeted marketing to recruit talent for the state of Indiana.

The initial partnership identified individuals who graduated from the county’s high schools and used the TMap platform to find information regarding their current city of residence and profession, as well as solicit interest in returning to the county. The publicly available data helped identify more than 21,000 local graduates. TMap also works with universities throughout the state to bring graduates back to Indiana.

Thibideau

“Hamilton County is an amazing place to live and thrive as a professional and a family. In January 2021, we put out an initial marketing push to assess interest and test what type of response we would receive,” said Mike Thibideau, HCEDC Vice President of Workforce Strategy. “The results were promising.”

The pilot project identified more than 5,000 high-skill professionals that had an interest in being connected with an employer and potentially relocating to Hamilton County. Software engineering, engineering, sales, operations, data and analytics, finance and information technology earned hundreds of positive responses.

The partnership is identifying additional local employers who would like to participate. According to TMap, the cost for participating employers is approximately 50 percent of a typical recruiter or headhunting fee. Participating employers receive access to the talent pool via an online portal, and additional support from TMap is available for those who prefer more hands-on support landing talent.

Rutz

“Participating companies will have access to a prequalified pipeline of terrific talent, and a team of recruiting pros to help facilitate a happy hire,” said Mike Rutz, Executive Vice President of TMap.  “Hamilton County is leading the way in community recruitment.  We’re proud to help make that vision a reality.”

The campaigns will continue in 2021 and 2022 thanks to Hamilton County government’s ongoing support of the project, and the expected pool of talent will continue to grow. HCEDC will build out connections for individuals relocating to the county with housing, community programming, events, and opportunities for community engagement through local non-profits and social networks.

“We are building a slate of programs that promotes the excellence of our ecosystem for potential and current residents,” said Thibideau. “Our goal is that when an employer signs on with this initiative they, and the potential employee, have everything they need to realize life in Hamilton County at its fullest potential.”

Interested employers can contact Rutz at mike@tmap.com.

About Hamilton County Economic Development Corporation

The Hamilton County Economic Development Corporation is a comprehensive marketing organization focused on attracting and growing a talented workforce to Hamilton County Indiana. The office works with economic development professionals, workforce readiness and attraction programs, along with the network of state universities to promote the jobs and skills training available for career-changers in the county. HCEDC also works with Hamilton County Tourism and leaders across the county to share why the county is an attractive, affordable, safe and fun place to live and work.