Tupelo officials and CDF introduce ‘Find Your Tupelo’ talent-attraction platform

City development and chamber partners on June 16 presented a new talent-attraction initiative called “Find Your Tupelo,” a website and outreach program intended to help employers recruit and retain workers by showcasing local jobs, housing options, schools and lifestyle amenities.

David Rumbarger of CDF introduced the project to the City Council, saying it is the next step in an effort to promote career opportunities and quality-of-life advantages in Tupelo. "Find Your Tupelo helps the story — it helps tell the story of why people should choose this community to work and live," Rumbarger said.

Madden Hutto, who leads the Tupelo Young Professionals effort, described the program’s components: a community storytelling platform, a live job board seeded with positions from roughly the top 30 local employers, and tabs highlighting careers, housing and local amenities. Hutto said the job board uses automated scraping to surface positions from participating employers and that staff plan to expand employer participation over time. "If you know someone looking to grow their career, make their home, or build their life in a great community, send them to Find Your Tupelo," Hutto said.

Presenters emphasized an affordability message: staff told the council the community’s cost-of-living advantage is a key recruiting point and cited a comparison that places Tupelo near 82 percent of the national average in cost of living. The presenters asked the council to help promote the site and distributed informational cards for council members to pass to constituents.

Council members received the demonstration and noted the job-board feature. The mayor and staff said the city will share the resource with tourism and workforce partners as part of broader economic-development outreach.

Provenance: Topic begins at SEG 386 and continues through SEG 556.