Inside the Campaign to Bring More Hispanic Families to Topeka, Kan.
By Claudia Velasquez
October 2024
In 2023, Topeka — Kansas’ capital city of fewer than 180,000 people — needed workers.
Despite attracting 100 families through its Choose Topeka relocation program and increasing the county’s population by 2,265 residents in 2021, the city desperately needed a higher population to continue growing its economy. With an unemployment rate below 3%, nearly 7,000 positions were open, ranging from entry-level workers to executive professional services roles.
Luckily, Topeka has a long history of celebrating its diverse heritage. In fact, 30% of the city’s leaders, including Mayor Mike Padilla, are of Hispanic descent, and the city’s Hispanic population is 13.4% and rising.
So, in mid-2023, recognizing that many Hispanic immigrants were looking for work and new opportunities, the city launched a PR campaign to welcome immigrants with permission to work in the United States.
Enter boutique economic development agency, Violet PR. With a limited PR budget and without any advertising dollars or travel budget, the Violet team aimed to reach Topeka’s target audiences through earned media coverage at the national and international levels.
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Claudia Velasquez
Claudia Velasquez is an account executive at Violet PR. She has worked on some of the agency’s most prominent and longest-standing economic development clients. Over the past two years, Velasquez has successfully helped clients earn feature stories in major outlets like The New York Times, Fast Company, NPR and more. She has a master’s in public and organizational relations from Montclair State University.
