Wan ted: IT Professionals
NECESSITY IS THE mother of invention and when unemployment rates head toward naught, it’s necessary to get savvy about attracting skilled workers.
In Michigan’s case, that’s meant kicking off a direct response space-ad campaign and developing a CD-ROM to inform young computer programmers and engineers about the thrills and attractions the state has to offer.
The Michigan Jobs Commission began with an ad in The New York Times in mid-February. The pitch featured Rick Snyder, former president/COO of computer direct marketer Gateway (which is located in another state that we won’t mention) and currently president of Avalon Investments, an Ann Arbor (Michigan, that is) venture capital firm specializing in high-tech start-ups.
“Michigan is a smart place to be,” Snyder proclaims in the ad, which has two tag lines: “These days it’s not enough to be street smart. You’ve got to be state smart” and “Michigan. Great Lakes. Great Location.”
The ad includes both a toll-free number (1-800-946-6829) and a URL (www. state. mi.us/mjc) for more information. Future ads will feature other Michigan technology leaders.
The CD-ROM, called “Michigan Has It All,” was developed by Enlighten, an interactive agency, also in Ann Arbor. The disk has video, audio and text information: places to live, hot spots, cultural and recreational activities and a database of job listings with links to the companies’ Web sites.
The disk is handed out at job fairs and mailed to job hunters who send their resumes to Michigan technology companies. It can also be ordered at the Web site, which eventually will feature job listings.
The state has three cities on the top-25 list of the fastest growing IT communities, according to Steve Glauberman, Enlighten’s president, who says Michigan is the first state he’s aware of to make a CD-ROM to attract employees.-TW
