reported that the $ 10,000 grant had minimal influence on their desire to move to Newcastle . The grant was viewed as ‘ icing on the cake ’ by most as the majority of live Famil participants interviewed were planning to move to Newcastle or had already relocated . This is confirmed in the survey of EOI applicants which showed that 85 % of respondents ( n = 113 ) were already thinking about moving to a regional city such as Newcastle before they found out about New Move .
CONCLUSION Stage 1 of the evaluation of New Move covered the period March 2021 to end of June 2021 and evaluated the process to attract people to relocate to Newcastle , including the marketing campaign and Famil event , and applicant selection elements of the program . During this time Newcastle was significantly impacted by COVID-19 . The pandemic did not impact the marketing campaign or Famil events , however , it significantly impacted the relocation process for successful applicants , and delayed the delivery and participation in the community program and engagement events .
New Move is an ambitious initiative that attempts to combine elements of the economic development and innovation ecosystem programming , and successfully attracted 30 talented individuals to relocate to Newcastle at the end of June 2021 .
The program provides important lessons and insights for strengthening economic development and talent attraction strategies : These include :
• The marketing campaign for New Move was a highly successful and effective element of the program and exceeded expectations in terms of reach and people who self-funded a trip to experience the city .
• The Famil weekend and virtual Famil were highly successful and effective elements of the program . Attendees indicated that the Famil was particularly helpful in finding out more about the program , business opportunities in the region and Newcastle as a place to live . It also helped attendees to expand their personal and business connections through networking .
• The $ 10,000 grant was an effective marketing tool and was well received by New Movers . Data indicates that the grant was more important during the EOI stage than for final participants , with most viewing it as a motivator to apply , supporting their relocation , however , indicated that other elements of the program ( such as the co-working space ) were just as valuable , if not more so than the grant itself . Most New Movers were already planning to move or would have likely moved to Newcastle regardless of the program . The role of the grant in future iterations of the program needs to be explored , and consideration given to whether other types of incentives and relocation support might be more valued by participants .
• New Move was effective in shifting perceptions of business in Newcastle . There is a lack of recently collated perception evidence , however , the survey of EOI applicants ( n = 113 ) found that prior to New Move , people generally had positive perceptions of Newcastle for lifestyle and a less positive perception from a business viewpoint . Just over 50 % ( n = 67 ) reported the New Move process had changed their perceptions of business ‘ quite a bit ’ or ‘ a great deal ’. Many New Movers were surprised by the breadth of industries and the progressive and entrepreneurial nature of Newcastle .
REFERENCES
3 Brookings Institution ( 2019 ). Talent-Driven Economic Development – a new vision and agenda for regional and state economies . Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings .
5 Musulin , K . 2020 . Tulsa Remote lures in Bay Area techies . Smart Cities Dive . Washington and Holder , S . 2020 . The Great Tulsa Remote Worker Experiment . Bloomberg CityLab , 29 February 2020 .
7 Verdich , M . ( 2010 ). Creative Migration ? The attraction and retention of the “ creative class ” in Launceston , Tasmania , Australian Geographer , vol . 41 , no . 1 , pp . 129-140 .
8 Florida , R . 2002 . The Rise of the Creative Class and How It ’ s Transforming Work , Leisure , Community and Everyday Life ( New York : Basic Books ). In this , Florida includes a definition of ‘ creative professionals ’ who are classic knowledge-based workers including those working in healthcare , business and finance , the legal sector , and education and the ‘ super-creative core ’ defined as scientists , engineers , innovators and researchers , as well as artists , designers , writers and musicians .
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
OLIVIA WYBORN Olivia is a Senior Consultant with the University of Newcastle ’ s Institute for Regional Futures . An experienced qualitative researcher , Olivia has a wide range of skills and expertise in the conduct of social research and evaluation . Olivia has a background in communications and engagement , community relations and events strategy and delivery .
PROFESSOR ROBERTA RYAN Roberta is a leading policy analyst , evaluation methodologist , educator and stakeholder engagement practitioner with over 30 years ’ experience in academia and consulting in Australia and internationally . Professor of Local Government and Director of the Institute for Regional Futures at the University of Newcastle , Roberta is well known for developing new approaches to the application of research to policy , evidence-based evaluation and driving sector outcomes .
SIMON MASSEY Simon is the Economic Strategy and Government Relations Manager at the City of Newcastle and was the co-lead for the New Move program . Simon ’ s background is in demography and economics , and he has a range of experience across both state and local government . Simon is a Churchill Fellowship recipient from 2018 .
SALLYANN HUNTING SallyAnn is the Director Research Programs with the University of Newcastle ’ s Institute for Regional Futures and the Project Director for the New Move Evaluation . With extensive experience in strategic planning , workforce planning , evaluation and social cohesion in communities , SallyAnn has conducted over 30 evaluations in local government economic development , public sector governance and policy making , and in sustainability and social cohesion .
Meet the author and join the panel discussion at NEDC2022
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 15 NO 2 2022 19