Since 1972, the year we moved to Kansas, the rural regions of the state have worked to reverse the migration of residents to other parts of the state and the country in search of better opportunities. Several communities offered free land for new housing, Some reached out to former residents. Others targeted retirees. And still the numbers continued to shrink.

Now, the The Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, a private operating foundation that provides economic and entrepreneurial assistance, has an out-of-the-box plan to at least put a dent in the region’s population losses. The Logan-based Dane G. Hansen Foundation also is involved.

The center hopes to expand on a program started about a year ago by Hess Services at Hays. The company went to Puerto Rico to recruit welders and other skilled workers it couldn’t find here.

The center’s Scott Sproul explained the program at a Feb. 23 meeting in Ellsworth with potential employers, including Cashco, Maico, Great Plains and Wilson Communications.

He said once the legal details are in order, a delegation plans to visit Puerto Rico this spring to recruit technical school graduates. Ellsworth County will be represented, as will Hess Manufacturing and Ellis County and Smith County.

The three counties were chosen as early participants. An early goal is to refine the program so it can eventually go region wide.

You’ll find more details in a Page Al story in this week’s Independent-Reporter.

However, if you’re wondering whether this program is needed — go to Page A6. You’ll find a story there on a two-day job fair conducted by Great Plains to find workers for its plants at Lucas and Tipton.

This is not the company’s first effort at recruitment. In recent weeks, representatives also have conducted interviews at Abilene and Salina.

Central and northwest Kansas have jobs and, if current projections hold, more will be available in the not-too-distant future.

At the Ellsworth meeting, Sproul asked whether employers would be willing to pay $15 an hour. Representatives said that sum was reasonable, especially for welders, the first group of workers the program plans to recruit.

Of course, there’s a lot more to this than interviewing a perspective employee and buying them a plane ticket to Kansas.

Ellsworth and other communities must be willing to welcome new residents and do everything they can to make them fit in. And they must acknowledge that quality of life issues are every bit as important to economic development as bringing a new business to town. You can’t have one without the other.

We wish the innovation center luck with its efforts in Puerto Rico. We especially look forward to meeting the first family to benefit from a program we hope will be one of many to bring new residents to rural Kansas.