By BECKY GOFF
Little Apple Post
MANHATTAN - On Monday morning, Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce, David Toland, was joined by leaders from across the state of Kansas to unveil the 'Love, Kansas' campaign.
'Love, Kansas' is intended to boost Kansas' population and workforce by inviting past Kansas residents to return to the Sunflower State for work and residency.
The crowd, from across Kansas, was hyped up by Wyatt Thompson, voice of the K-State Wildcats, who served as emcee during the event.
"Today we are launching a new campaign that is going to bring these people home to Kansas by helping them rediscover why this state is the best place to call home," Thompson said.
Lt. Gov. Toland shared his experience of returning to Kansas to live and work by sharing an inspiring phone call from a family friend during the campaign launch at the Flint Hills Discovery Center.
"I am a 1995 graduate of Iola High School in Allen County. I have two degrees from KU, I married a girl at KU who is from Pittsburg and as soon as we finished graduate school, we moved out of the state," Toland said. "We went to the East Coast and we were there for the better part of a decade."
After the birth of their daughter, Caroline, Toland said, he and his wife decided to come back to Kansas.
"Caroline was learning to walk in our 16-foot wide row house, when one night, I got a phone call from somebody back in Iola, a friend who said, 'I'm sure you've never considered this. It's kind of a crazy idea. You'd have to move.' and he said, 'Well, I wonder if you would ever consider coming back to Kansas, and specifically to Iola.'"
As a seventh-generation Kansan, Toland said he felt Kansas has always been in his heart, however, he didn't always think of it as a place of opportunity.
"It wasn't until that phone call that it clicked and I realized that we should be back home. We should be building our life for our daughter back in Kansas," Toland said. "And that's just what we did. It's been 16 years, and that was the best decision we've ever made."
The goal of 'Love, Kansas' is to highlight Kansas as an exceptional place to live, work, and raise a family, emphasizing the term, 'boomerang' - those individuals who have previously lived in Kansas, who are returning.
This locally driven campaign will target key markets in the U.S., including digital and social media platforms. Love Kansas will focus on the abundant job opportunities across the state, the high quality of life, education system and affordable communities.
"It's simple: we need more humans in Kansas to keep up with the phenomenal economic growth our state is experiencing," Lt. Gov. Toland said. "The best way to do that is to first approach Kansans who left the state for economic opportunities elsewhere and invite them to build a life in a place they know and have connections to, whether in their hometown or elsewhere in the state. With the Love, Kansas campaign, we aren't just extending an invitation to those who once called Kansas home to come back--we re also inviting families from around the country to build their lives in the Sunflower State."
As part of the launch, Toland announced the first 50 communities to partner with the 'Love Kansas' initiative will be eligible to receive a $5,000 grant to assist with attracting new residents to their community.
Nineteen pilot communities and seven universities have joined the initiative and are planning events following the campaign theme.
Use of influencer and journalist engagement and targeted in-person events as ways for the communities to reach out to potential boomerangs.
A primary goal for the campaign is for communities across the state to do direct outreach to past residents they have a personal connection with, inviting them to return home.
"The collaboration already on display between so many partners underscores the enthusiasm for this campaign," Kansas Tourism Director Bridgette Jobe said. "There are so many amazing things happening in Kansas right now; Love, Kansas gives us the chance to let people throughout the country know about them."
To close the launch, Toland invited all Kansans to call a friend or family member, making a pitch to get them return to the state they once called home.
"The most important thing for you to say might just be, 'Hey, there's good things happening in town and we miss you,'" Toland said. "We want you to come home. We want you to love Kansas. That's what's most important. Make that call. Send that text. Get out there and together we're gonna change Kansas."