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Life Multiplied: Surveys show Bloomington-Normal offers more than expected

Spectators gather on the lawn of the McLean County Museum of History during the WGLT Summer Concert on June 20, 2022.
Emily Bollinger
/
WGLT
Spectators gather on the lawn of the McLean County Museum of History during the WGLT Summer Concert on June 20, 2022.

Economic developers in McLean County have rolled out a new marketing campaign to retain and attract a workforce.

Patrick Hoban, the CEO of Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council (EDC), said that's become harder to do because Generation X is much smaller than the Baby Boomer generation,many of whom are retiring. Hoban said the marketing slogan “Life Multiplied” was created following community surveys last year.

“The big key takeaway is that there’s more here than people expected,” Hoban said. “A lot of people from Chicagoland, outside of town, think there’s nothing but corn down here; they are pleasantly surprised.”

The campaign focuses on seven themes: premier location, travel options, beyond ordinary, great homes, college town, connected community and career potential.

The EDC plans to use the Life Multiplied campaign to target three main groups with specific messaging: college students, commuters, and former Bloomington-Normal residents who could be lured back to the community to work — so-called boomerang workers.

“We realize there’s not one thing, there’s not one common takeaway for this area. It’s really a combination of math equations. If you think about it, twice the cities, twice the opportunity, twice the charm,” Hoban said.

Courtney Schafer, the marketing manager the EDC hired to implement the campaign, said the first leg will focus on students from Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Heartland Community College in hopes of encouraging them to stay in the community after graduation.

Schafer said some student-athletes will join in the marketing effort as paid endorsers, which is now permissible under new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules.

“We will be having athletes that attend Illinois State University take over our social media and just tell the story about why they love Bloomington-Normal,” Schafer said.

The organization plans to spend $10,000 monthly through various media to market the Life Multiplied campaign. It also has its own website: LifeMultiplied.org.

Last year, the EDC hired a consulting firm to develop the surveys that were issued to various stakeholder groups and made available to the general public.

Life Multiplied replaces the BN Advantage branding campaign the EDC rolled out in 2015.

The Economic Development Council is funded by Bloomington, Normal and McLean County governments.

Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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