ELKHART — Elkhart County's manufacturing companies are still struggling to fill thousands of jobs, but economic development officials have hatched a plan that they think will attract workers from faraway places, including hurricane-hit Texas and Florida.
The Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County will soon launch a $95,000 advertising campaign that will aim to convince people to move here. The effort comes as officials are focused on trying to keep companies from expanding elsewhere or leaving because of the county's labor shortage.
Ads will automatically appear on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, in areas across the country with high unemployment. By clicking on ads, people will be directed to a new website, Elkhartcountyworks.com, that will be launched later this month.
The website will list job openings and promote Elkhart County — known as the nation's RV capital — as a great place to live, said Mark Dobson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corp.
"It will have housing statistics, school data and the various things they need to make a move to our community," he said.
The effort comes after major hurricanes recently ravaged the Gulf Coast, with Hurricane Harvey sweeping through Texas and Hurricane Irma slamming Florida. Officials hope displaced workers from those areas might view the county as a greener pasture.