Paige Weslaski goes for a three-mile run every day during her lunch break at work, right alongside the waves of Lake Michigan.

“I think it’s the most beautiful place in the whole wide world when I’m running. I think it’s even more beautiful than Malibu, really,” Weslaski says, describing the lakefront in Racine. “And it’s like, wow, no one’s here, no one’s utilizing this beauty.”

The 27-year-old Racine native, entrepreneur, published author and 2015 Young Professional of the Year in Racine has lived in New York, Guatemala and on the coast of California in Malibu, and traveled throughout Europe. Something, though, has her hooked on Racine, Wisconsin, near her roots — in fact, the city’s name comes from the French translation of “root.” 

After leaving Racine for five years to pursue her college degree and travel and work abroad, Weslaski turned down a full scholarship to earn her master’s degree at her alma mater, Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, to return to Racine.

“I knew in my heart of hearts, no, I’m going back to Racine,” she says.

Weslaski isn’t alone in leaving for her education, then returning to the Racine community. The median age in Racine is about 34 years old, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and residents between the ages of 20 to 34 outnumber those from ages 35 to 49. The population has grown, albeit slowly, since 2010. Yet Racine is a puzzle piece of a larger movement at work in Wisconsin, where young professionals tend to flock to larger cities in surrounding states. As young professionals face the decision of where to plant their roots after completing their education, community members in mid-sized Wisconsin cities like Eau Claire, La Crosse and particularly Racine, work to redefine their city’s narrative to attract and engage young professionals to further grow their communities. 

Racine and other cities throughout Wisconsin face the challenge known as “brain drain.” According to a 2019 study by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan policy research organization focused on analyzing critical Wisconsin issues, neighboring states outpace Wisconsin in attracting individuals with a bachelor’s degree or above.

The study found that 20 percent of 31- to 41-year-olds born in Wisconsin who had moved away from the state were considered “highly educated.” Only 10 percent of people in this age group who were born elsewhere and moved to Wisconsin had a bachelor’s degree or higher, however, resulting in a net brain drain of 10.7 percentage points. In comparison, Wisconsin’s neighbors experienced the opposite effect: Illinois had a “brain gain” of 10 percentage points, and Minnesota had a net gain of 1 percentage point. Since 1990, Wisconsin remains one of the five states in the U.S. with the largest “brain drain” gaps.

“Wisconsin faces the challenge of having two of the Midwest’s most dynamic metro areas — Chicago and Minneapolis — near its borders, which draw highly educated people away from the state,” the Wisconsin Policy Forum report says.

The disparity, especially in incoming migration, captures the attention of lawmakers, who have proposed and initiated several policy solutions toward the issue within recent years. In September 2018, then-Gov. Scott Walker proposed “The New Graduate Tax Credit” offering tax incentives for college graduates who stay or move back to Wisconsin. Additionally, from January to June 2018, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation launched a state-funded marketing campaign in the Chicago area to “draw Wisconsin expatriates scattered across the country to their home state,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

Many elements factor into a young professional’s decision on where to move after finishing their degree, but as the Wisconsin government’s policy measures suggest, one key motivation is economic: Young professionals follow job opportunities. In Racine, the city’s Area Manufacturers and Commerce organization and their group, the Young Professionals of Racine, aim to quickly connect these newcomers with active community members to welcome and integrate them into the community, according to Anna Clementi, the organization’s vice president of operations and coordinator of the Young Professionals of Racine.

These organizations work with human resources staff in businesses throughout Racine to connect newly employed community members with their young professionals organization, which is based on three key initiatives: connect, grow and engage. Throughout Clementi’s six years facilitating Young Professionals of Racine, they’ve maintained a base of 60 to 80 members, mostly between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. Working with this group, Clementi notices the positive change of perception that occurs for people when they become more involved in the community.

“There’s a strange perception that’s stuck out there that I think deters people from coming,” Clementi says. “But then the people that do come realize very quickly, ‘Oh, wow, things I heard are totally opposite of what I am seeing or experiencing.’”

Weslaski is part of Young Professionals, and although she is a Racine native, her own perception of Racine changed once she moved back and took steps to become more involved. When she graduated from Case High School in 2010, she hadn’t intended to return. But since feeling called back to Racine, Weslaski has grown deeper roots by immersing herself in a variety of community-oriented initiatives. She works as a marketing executive at Image Management in downtown Racine, wrote a weekly column entitled “Millennial Musings” for the Journal Times in 2017 and 2018 she volunteers on several local boards such as St. Monica’s Senior Living and previously for SAFE Haven of Racine shelter.

Being immersed in life in Racine, Weslaski also works to shape and change the perception of the community like Clementi. Weslaski noted that she is often asked why she came back to Racine.

“I feel like that is such a sad question,” she says. “And my answer is always that you can make the sun shine anywhere that you’re at, and there’s beauty anywhere that you’re at. And so I feel like Racine is the perfect place to be able to serve and to find the little crooks and crannies of its beauty.”

What’s Up Racine co-founder Dorsey started the movement on Facebook to connect with other young professionals in the area.

Weslaski and Clementi are not alone in acknowledging this narrative and trying to change it. At an event sponsored by Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce, the organization helped connect Weslaski with another service-oriented community member, Pastor Melvin Hargrove. He has lived in Racine for nearly 53 years, running his own religious ministry while also sitting on the Racine Unified School District Board of Education from 2007 to 2015. Like Weslaski, Hargrove feels called to his Racine roots, and the two have developed a friendship.

Originally, though, Hargrove helped Weslaski to get connected with the right people when she was starting to become more active in the community. As a more established community member, he often works to connect new individuals with the right people to pursue their goals. 

“And so we began just kind of talking, she was talking about coming back to Racine, and so all I did there was try to kind of help introduce her to different areas of different people that would help her along,” Hargrove explained about meeting Weslaski. “So that was more of, ‘Hey, you might want to talk to this person …’ I’ve always tried to build myself to anyone or any young person that’s actually trying to build relationships in the community professionally, so that they can all have different options as they grow in their professional selves.”

Clementi, Weslaski and Hargrove focus on serving within the community, the question remains as to how they can spread the word about the attractive qualities of Racine to young professionals outside of the community and, perhaps, combat “brain drain.”

Megan Dorsey found herself inspired by the same perceptions of Racine that Clementi and Weslaski saw. Dorsey was 25 years old when she moved to Racine with her fiance and was looking to make new friends, so she made a Facebook page to figure out what young people were doing in their spare time.

In essence, she asked: What’s Up Racine?

Intrigued by Dorsey’s idea, Brianna Wright responded immediately. She was 24 at the time and working as a freelance graphic designer. They soon planned their first event, which they called a “Big Ideas Mixer,” where they asked the diverse attendees, “What do you see for the future of Racine? Or what do you want this group to stand for?” Almost three years later, many of these people are still involved.

Co-founders of What’s Up Racine walk in front of the restaurant where they first met four years ago.

The newfound leaders also developed a mission statement, defining themselves as “a social rebranding initiative with the end goal of making Racine a destination city for young professionals, students, creatives and entrepreneurs.”

Through the efforts of Dorsey and Wright, What’s Up Racine has become a connecting force, both between different community groups and the greater Wisconsin community of millennials and young professionals. Their social media presence on Facebook and Instagram (@WhatsUpRacine) creates a virtual conversation, amplifying the positive community perception that Weslaski, Clementi and Hargrove work toward. The What’s Up Racine community also expands the audience of active community members, going beyond the realm of only young professionals.

“Starting it wasn’t like necessarily a business plan or anything like that. But just giving a shout out to people, kind of that come-as-you-are mentality,” Wright says. “In the words of Megan … ‘You don’t have to be a big baller to be here.’”

What’s Up Racine aims to host monthly events related to art, music and culture, especially in downtown Racine. With Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce, they hosted the city’s Young Professionals Week in 2019, making it the third-largest Young Professionals Week in the state. They’re also working to redefine an area of downtown Racine as an arts district called “Uptown,” where they’ve installed eight new murals this year. Ultimately, Wright describes Racine as in its “Renaissance period,” referring to the 22 new businesses that opened up downtown in the last year. 

Brianna Wright points out her contribution to a mural.

What’s Up Racine is completely grassroots-based and operates without a budget. While they’d like to recruit more young people through print materials and more, that’s a project that’s still in development. 

“It’s a passion project,” Wright says of What’s Up Racine. “And we love every minute of it. And we just want to keep it afloat. But it’s definitely one of those feelings of, it takes a village.”

Wright and Dorsey’s work coincides with that of Weslaski, Clementi, Hargrove and many others, who refuse to stand by as they recognize holes or problems that might detract from the community and its perception to young people.

They are staying in Racine — and they’re establishing the community roots to make it a better place. 

“I want to be a really good steward with the time that I’ve been given and the city that I’m living in, and better it,” Weslaski says. “Something that someone once told me is that we should always leave a place — even if it’s something small as a bathroom, or a city, or whatever, or a conversation — we should leave things better off than when we first got there… to leave it brighter than it was prior.”