Phelps County Recruits Employees in Kentucky Small Town

More than 600 workers in a small Kentucky town will soon be out of work. Phelps County leaders see this as an opportunity to help those soon-to-be job seekers and local employers at the same time.

A targeted flyer and social media campaigns will promote Phelps County’s family-oriented lifestyle and available jobs to residents in Murray, Ky., where Briggs and Stratton recently announced it will be closing a production facility.

“We know that Briggs and Stratton is offering assistance to those employees to relocate to other markets with jobs available,” said Ron Tillery, Executive Director of the Phelps County Development Corporation. “We want to inform those Murray, Ky., employees that we would welcome them in our community.”

Tillery, along with staff from the Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce and area employers, including Briggs and Stratton/Allmand Inc., Phelps Memorial Health Center and BD met to share ideas on recruiting employees from Kentucky to fill jobs locally, especially highly-skilled jobs that are difficult for any community or employer to recruit.

The Holdrege Allmand Bros./Briggs & Stratton facility began construction in June on a major expansion project that will increase production capacity and add at least 20 employees. BD recently announced that it will add at least 35 new jobs as part of its expansion in Holdrege.

Phelps County promotions in Murray will encourage residents to consider seeking jobs at these and other employers in the county. Murray is a town of 19,200 people in western Kentucky. It is home to Murray State University, a Division I school.

Tillery said he suspects that many of the Murray residents who will be seeking new jobs have families.

“So, we are emphasizing the things in our community that are attractive to families,” Tillery said. “We are a family-oriented community with great schools.” The catch-line on the flyer highlights Phelps County as a place “where kids are free to be kids.”

The flyer directs Murray residents to the PCDC or Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce websites.

“We hope when people in Murray see the flyer and when they visit the website, they will see a similar set of images that will reinforce the messages that we are trying to convey,” Tillery said.

He said this campaign is a great way to support local employers.

“We intend to look for opportunities like this in the future where we can promote our market to those other places where they are having layoffs or where there are employees available that fit what our employers are looking for,” Tillery said.

For more information about the Murray campaign or jobs in Phelps County, please contact PCDC staff at (308) 995-4148 or visit www.phelpscountyne.com.