RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 9, 2013 – The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Wake County Economic Development (WCED), and Work in the Triangle, has announced that it received the Gold Award for Excellence in Economic Development from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) for its Wake County Advantages Brochure, which was specially designed to promote the many advantages of living and working in Wake County in an effort to attract new companies and talent to the area.

In addition, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce received two Silver Awards for Excellence in Economic Development for New Media and Special Purpose Website for its talent attraction initiative, “Work in the Triangle, Smarter From Any Angle.”

The IEDC’s Excellence in Economic Development Awards give recognition to the world’s best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials, and the year’s most influential leaders. Individuals and organizations that excel in creating positive change in their communities are recognized with these awards. Awards were judged based upon effectiveness and creativity of the promotion, quality of information and overall contribution to the economic development profession. Wake County Economic Development was recognized at this year’s IEDC Annual Conference in Philadelphia held on Oct. 8.

Since launching the campaign in May 2012, “Work in the Triangle, Smarter From Any Angle” has become the Triangle’s go-to resource for area employment opportunities, actively engaged with local companies and recruiters to promote and ultimately fill open positions by attracting new talent to the area.

In September, the initiative launched a search for an official Raleigh ambassador through a video contest. The winner of the contest will not only help Work in the Triangle further promote and attract talent to the Raleigh and greater Triangle area, but will also win a trip to Austin, Texas from Friday, March 7 to Sunday, March 16 for the largest entrepreneurial, tech, music and film festival. During the trip, the ambassador will post social media updates along with the way to build up excitement about the event as well as meet with local officials and spread the word about what makes Raleigh special during stops along the way to Austin. The winner of the contest will be announced on Friday, Oct. 11.

QUOTES:

“We are excited to see our efforts in growing and developing our ‘Work in the Triangle, Smarter From Any Angle,’ talent attraction initiative receive recognition on an international scale,” said Jennifer Bosser, assistant executive director for Wake County Economic Development. “Since our launch, we have generated a greater awareness of all of the incredible assets the Triangle has to offer. We have reached close to a hundred companies, large and small, to assist them with their talent needs, gaining 2,800 Twitter followers, nearly 450 Facebook fans, more than 37,000 website portal visits, and reaching thousands of individuals at events such as South By Southwest®. We are proud of our accomplishments thus far, but are just getting started and look forward to what the future holds.”

NEW MEDIA CONTENT:

Work in the Triangle Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/WorkInTheTriangle

Work in the Triangle on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/WorkTriangleNC

Work in the Triangle on LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/2923123

ABOUT WAKE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

Wake County Economic Development (WCED), a program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, is the primary economic development organization for Wake County and its 12 municipalities. WCED hosts clients evaluating Wake County for possible facility locations each year and facilitates dozens of corporate expansions, resulting in new jobs and capital investment for Raleigh and Wake County. Services available to companies that are considering relocating or expanding in Wake County include economic and demographic research, site and building inventory searches, visitation itineraries, community tours, corporate executive and employee briefings, employee relocation assistance, and post-relocation services. For more information, visit www.raleigh-wake.org.

ABOUT WORK IN THE TRIANGLE:

Work in the Triangle is a regional talent attraction initiative to connect and recruit top talent with employers and job opportunities in the key industry clusters of the Triangle area of North Carolina. Work in the Triangle is a Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce initiative led by Wake County Economic Development (WCED), a program of the Chamber, in partnership with Competitive EDGE4, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, Chapel Hill Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, Orange County Economic Development, Research Triangle Foundation and the Research Triangle Regional Partnership. The initiative’s talent recruitment strategy is to position the Triangle nationally and internationally as a smarter place for talented skilled professionals to work, live, play and learn by leveraging social, digital and mobile media, and developing content, including videos, testimonials and resource links. For more information, please visit http://www.WorkintheTriangle.com.

ABOUT THE GREATER RALEIGH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is the Triangle’s largest nonprofit business membership organization made up of more than 2,400 member firms representing two-thirds of the private sector employment in Wake County. The Chamber has represented the interests of the local business community since 1888. For more information, visit http://www.raleighchamber.org.

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