A Topeka program that offers cash to people who move to Shawnee County is shifting its efforts to attract Latino immigrants. The Choose Topeka program that launched in 2019 offers up to $15,000 to each applicant who finds a job and moves to the Topeka area. It’s an economic development effort by Go Topeka, a local public-private partnership. Bob Ross, a spokesperson for Go Topeka, said program officials realized that Spanish-speaking immigrants appeared to be the most interested in the incentive. Officials then began marketing the program directly to them, including both Spanish-speaking immigrants and Spanish speakers already living in the U.S. Hispanic and Latino populations are growing rapidly in the state, and Topeka has one of the larger communities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 16.5% of Topeka’s population is Hispanic or Latino, which is roughly 20,000 people. Ross said that community has been established in Topeka for more than 100 years and is a unique feature for the city. The city has leaned into that. For instance, the Topeka school district offers dual language education where students learn in both Spanish and English in their classes. “If you’re a first-generation immigrant and you speak Spanish,” Ross said, “Topeka can be a very welcoming community for you.” The Latino population in Kansas is expected to continue growing rapidly in the decades to come.
Source: KLC Journal
