Recruitment Program Aims to Help Companies Solve Immediate Workforce Needs

Call it a “happy accident”. A promising GFMEDC program was born from a robust conversation with local recruiters focused on trending workforce challenges. The resounding feedback was that while ongoing branding and recruitment strategies are important and needed, companies have an immediate need for workforce.

Part data analysis and part recruitment tool, the program provides insights on wages and available occupations combined with candidate contact information that we provide to HR departments.

Lightning Recruitment aims to help companies find pockets of talent who would be interested in moving to the FM region (i.e. a positive wage differential and attractive cost of living compared to their current geography). This program puts HR departments in the driver’s seat to contact candidates who may be interested in moving to FM.  

For candidates who are not familiar with all that FM has to offer, we’ve built the LiveinFargo.com site. The site includes 360-degree images to give an almost virtual tour of places like restaurants, stores, venues and other fun stops in the region. They can also connect with an Icebreaker and watch videos that highlight our quality of life.  

Here is what a few company representatives have to say about the program: 

• “The new service offered through the EDC is an invaluable resource, helping us to connect with highly qualified candidates in outlying areas.  By identifying close matches to our job openings, it will supplement our initiatives in attracting talent that aligns with our needs.” –Theresa Halverson, Manager of Human Resources at Cass County Electric Cooperative 

• “Bobcat Company has utilized the Lightning Recruitment program pilot for assistance on three different positions over this past summer.  This has proven to be a great asset for us to supplement our existing strategies.  The analytics provided have been useful to understand what markets to focus our efforts and we have been able to grow our talent pipeline with the potential candidates that this program has provided.” –Stacey Sellers, Talent Acquisition Manager at Bobcat 

• “GFMEDC’s analysis helped us to assess our recruiting efforts in our region.  The information proved to be a valuable resource for our recruitment team.” —Mike Sanden, Training and Development Director at Butler Machinery 

Are you interested in seeing how the GFMEDC’s Lightning Recruitment Program can assist your company? Contact Sammi Rowe at srowe@fmedc.com