Millennial migration: Encouraging young workers to stay, set up shop

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Any town or community that’s not busy figuring out how to attract and keep millennial entrepreneurs might want to start soon, according to Jacob Day, Salisbury‘s 34-year-old mayor. Consider that millennials make up the largest living generation in America, plus they’re highly educated and have billions in spending power, Day said.

“They have the resources and intellect to drive change,” Day said.

From what he’s seen, attracting a younger workforce requires moving away from focusing solely on location-based incentives, like tax breaks, that have historically caught the eye of businesses. Towns should look to lure millennial entrepreneurs and workers first; in other words, build the talent pool businesses need to grow and improve their operations first and the businesses will follow, Day said.

“Our job as a place is to get young, talented people to come and stay,” he said.

Melodie Narain, 34, co-founder of area shoe vendor Sole Savers Inc., said there’s a mindset out there that millennials are more self-centered workers, but really it’s a matter of priorities: they tend to prioritize their own time and want more of it back, she said. Participating in a self-employed ‘gig economy,’ where they can choose to contribute their expertise by the job instead of relying on a workplace, can be an attractive way to reach this coveted work-life balance, Narain said.

In order to do so, many millennials like her seek out areas such as mixed-used neighborhoods where they can be close to work and the things they love doing outside of work. When they shop, they keep an eye out for made-to-order products and boutiques over box store chains.

Day agreed. Salisbury has been trying to attract millennials and millennial entrepreneurs over the past couple of years by improving the quality of life, the arts and the cultural atmosphere, Day said. Offering live music, high quality crafts, artisanal beer and spirits—in the mode of economic engines like Charleston, South Carolina or Austin, Texas—creates a buzz, an atmosphere of enthusiasm, a feeling that the community is hip and the city is an exciting place to live, he said. Re-branding efforts look to cast Salisbury as a coastal college town.

“It’s a slow thing to shift, but we’ve picked up momentum,” he said. Downtown Salisbury’s formerly sparse dining scene, for instance, now contains 18 restaurants, while residents flock to its 3rd Friday and other festive events.

The next step Salisbury sees as crucial to its future growth is investing in and developing infrastructure that will “convince people to stay,” Day said. For instance, the city partnered with Salisbury University to set up a downtown trolley that shuffles students from campus to downtown and back. The city also created bike lanes connecting the university to downtown.

Meeting a need

The impetus behind any entrepreneur, whether they are a millennial or not, is to solve some type of problem they have or see, Narain said. For her, it was noticing the way wearing heels to work all day killed her feet, so she decided to provide a convenient way for women to slip into more comfortable flats by offering them in vending machines.

Millennial Paul Rineholt and his business partner Nick Gregori started Dorchester Decoy Rentals in 2014 after realizing that the decoys there were seeking to purchase for a goose hunt were barely affordable. Rineholt, 21, figured there were many other hunters like them that were seeking to carry on a family tradition of water fowl hunting, only to be stifled by the expense. Since opening, the business has expanded and now has two employees.

This year, the U.S. Small Business Administration named Dorchester Decoy Rentals the state’s Young Entrepreneurs of the Year.

For Rinehlot, 21, hiring people of his own generation is a matter of bringing in people “who believe in what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s not something where you’re just working for a paycheck. You got to want it as bad as we do.”

Employers also need to be open-minded with younger workers who have grown up with smart phones and social media, Rineholt suggested. Instead of trying to suppress or inhibit their use, business owners should try to figure out how to use it to their benefit by, for example, asking employees to tell their friends and community about the business—a type of viral marketing , in essence.

“It’s easier to take advantage of that than it is to work against it,” he said.

Millennials also want more input into their careers and to feel like they’re working toward something bigger—perhaps a way forward with their own companies, Narain said.

“That doesn’t happen unless you have an entrepreneurial mind,” she said.

Developing the strategies young workers need to advance themselves by mentoring those who work for or with her is another perk Narian said she offers to attract and retain employees.