Updayton Releases Year Three Report
August 28th, 2011 | Published in Recent Press Release
Local advocacy organization reports on survey data and recommendations for talent retention Click here for the full release
Updayton, a local organization dedicated to young talent attraction and retention, released their Year Three Report today. The report highlights population trends and recent survey data on regional progress and remaining challenges in addressing the “brain drain.” The report is online at www.updayton.com.
Updayton surveyed over 800 young professionals to determine the factors that lead to satisfaction and the reasons people move away from Dayton. Although satisfaction has increased significantly since the first survey in 2008, the region still struggles with a brain drain.
To better address the brain drain, the Year Three Report includes major recommendations for the region:
• Create a greater connection between colleges and businesses through a focus on regional internships;
• Build greater “street buzz” downtown through the use of public and shared space for events;
• Create more options for multi-modal transportation with a focus on biking, walking and bussing;
• Encourage greater diversity with a focus on immigrant-friendly opportunities.
There is serious work to be done, but there is hope. Yvette Kelly-Fields, updayton Executive Director, says “For too many years, the only voice you heard in Dayton was the very negative yet very vocal minority. When updayton started, that was the only voice out there. Three years later, a different voice is being heard. ”
Scott Murphy, chair of updayton confirms this belief, “In our survey, 65% of the respondents said they are proud to live in the Dayton region. Proud. That’s not an ambiguous term. We think it’s because young people are responding to a unique opportunity in the region they can’t find in a massive city like Chicago or New York – the opportunity to have an impact.”
Greater details on these recommendations, recent survey results, data on new population trends, and highlights of updayton projects are available online at http://updayton.com.
