Rebecca Ryan presents a report in October on how Dalton, Ga., can attract
and retain young professionals.RECOMMENDED STEPSFour steps recommended by Rebecca Ryan to help Dalton attract and keep young professionals:Connect young professionals with the city council and county commissioners.Reignite Dalton’s young professionals network.Create a Next Generation Dalton agenda by organizing and prioritizing things that would attract and keep young professionals.Determine how Dalton can differentiate itself from Chattanooga and offer something special in the region.
DALTON, Ga. — City and Whitfield County officials wring their hands about how to attract young professionals in Dalton, and businesses recruit them only to have them leave.
Now this coveted group is taking matters into its own hands to help shape Dalton into a city where they say they want to work, play and live.
About a dozen young people met last week to discuss how to organize Young Professionals of Northwest Georgia — a group also known as YPONG. They plan to have a second organizational meeting next week and hope to launch the group officially sometime next year.
“It’s a good opportunity to get involved,” said Alex Stall, who works for the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce and is helping with organization.
Dalton officials long have said they will need to find a way to attract more young people if the city wants to become a force in the 21st century. But the 2010 census shows that, in the last 10 years, the city actually lost people in the key 25- to 34-year-old group.
In 2000, 17 percent of the city’s population fell into that 10-year age span. In 2010, it was only 15.5 percent. By comparison, Chattanooga had an increase in the same group, but it was less than 1 percent.
In October, Dalton and Whitfield County leaders brought in Rebecca, author of “Live First, Work Second: Getting Inside the Head of the Next Generation” and the founder of Next Generation Consulting, to host an event and find more ways to attract and keep young professionals in the city.
She said seven different things make up the “cool” factor for young professionals — the cost of living, earnings, vitality, learning, ease of transportation, social capital and after-hours attractions. In November, Ryan released a white paper, detailing information gathered at the event and to provide guidelines for the city.
According to the white paper, what matters most to young people in Dalton is the availability of after-hours events, with 53 percent listing that as their top priority. A stable economy with good jobs and a connected community came in second and third, each garnering 15 percent.
Ryan recommended four steps to improve the city’s appeal to young professionals, including creating a young professionals’ group and finding ways for the city to position itself as different from Chattanooga.
“How can Dalton draft off of Chattanooga’s success, and position itself as a unique alternative?” the paper asks.
Melissa Lu, an Archway Partnership professional for Dalton, told the young professionals group she thinks they will find the community is ready to support young professionals. The partnership, a University of Georgia program, provides input on ways to improve the community.
“If this group is serious, the community is ready to embrace it,” Lu said. “It would be a way to give young professionals a voice in the community.”