LANSING, Mich. — Michigan is launching a $20 million nationwide marketing initiative aimed at boosting the state’s decadeslong sluggish population growth by attracting and retaining young talent.

The campaign, which was unveiled Tuesday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, will include television, radio and online advertisements in 11 states. It will be the largest state-led talent attraction effort in the U.S., according to the state’s economic development board.

Whitmer and other state leaders have looked for ways to grow the population after the 2020 census revealed a population increase of only 1.7% over the previous decade. Michigan, the 10th most populous state in the nation, had the 49th slowest rate of population growth since 2000. Only West Virginia’s was slower.

The pace cost Michigan a U.S. House seat in 2021, the sixth time that has happened since 1980.

In June, Whitmer announced the state would create the “Growing Michigan Together” council to come up with policy ideas to jumpstart population growth. The council also is charged with setting a population goal for 2050. The state will spend an initial $59 million on the campaign this year and set aside another $20 million for the ad run.

Labeled the “You Can in Michigan” campaign, the new effort is designed to appeal to young people. Target markets will include large cities, such as New York, San Francisco and Atlanta, with billboards placed near colleges and universities.

Michigan has specifically targeted Republican-led states in the past and the new campaign will be no different, with ads slated to run in Texas and Ohio, among others.

In the Mahoning Valley, the Youngstown / Warren Regional Chamber and other organizations are in the early stages of their own effort to repopulate the region. The plan includes retaining young people, returning homegrown talent and recruiting fresh faces, and receiving refugees and immigrants.

It’s being done with the expectation the region is poised for explosive job growth in the next decade.