The ‘First New Friend’ Initiative looking for Ambassadors

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Kentucky Capital Development Corporation is in the process of rolling out Phase II of the Think Frankfort First Initiative. As they wrap up year one of the project, they have created hundreds of posts about local businesses and their contribution to the community.  Those daily posts will continue into the second year, adding information about available jobs within their local businesses, the skills required, the wages associated with these jobs and why someone might want to work there.

Phase II, the First New Friend Initiative, is a workforce recruitment and community on boarding initiative that allows them to leverage one of their greatest assets –the residents – to engage and secure new ones by providing an opportunity for potential and/or new residents to connect with people with whom they have things in common.

This involves recruiting and training community ambassadors, who will become someone’s first new friend in our community, who are diverse in background, ethnicity, occupation, religion and interests who will assist these new or potential residents with an easy (or easier) transition to a new home, and create a sense of belonging within the community.

For someone considering a move to a new city, it can be difficult to get good information about that city, and even harder to meet like-minded people.  This ambassador program connects people who are passionate about Frankfort with those who are new or considering a move to our community through personal contact, specially planned events and networking opportunities to introduce them to the community.

Local businesses will have access to this program as well as the onboarding information to distribute to potential employees and use as an incentive to recruit their workforce.  Studies show that more than 80% of new hires make their decision about whether to stay at a company within the first six months on the job and those onboarding initiatives focused on socialization and mentoring meet a critical need in employee retention.

Studies also show that without sufficient onboarding, new community members and employees may not interact with our community in the way they would like and may fail to become engaged in the long term. They might miss out on all the value and positive experience that the community provides.

According to KCDC, the people who live in Frankfort and Franklin County, love living there and are always so excited to tell others about how great they believe the community is.  So this program not only assists employers in hiring and retaining workers and gives new residents a welcome feeling but is also a meaningful way for the ambassadors to give back to their community and build Frankfort/Franklin County.

If you are a local business interested in utilizing the program, please contact the KCDC office at 502-226-5611.  If you are interested in becoming an ambassador or you are a newcomer or considering a move to Frankfort, you can find more information and an application at https://kycapitaldevelopment.com/think-frankfort-first/ .

You can find more information on Facebook at Kentucky Capital Development Corporation, Twitter at KCDCFrankfort, LinkedIn at Terri Bradshaw or at https://kycapitaldevelopment.com/about-us/news/ .