The weeklong slate of events targeted to young professionals will be held April 19 to 27 across Wisconsin, and also in Chicago, Atlanta, Louisville and Salt Lake City. NEWaukee also hopes to bring on additional cities, said Angela Damiani, chief executive officer of NEWaukee.

The east and west coasts have historically drawn many Midwesterners with promises of excitement and career success. But with the big coastal cities’ increase in cost of living combined with millennials’ enormous levels of student debt, members of the most altruistic and purpose-driven generation are getting creative and forging their own paths to pursue their passions.

By all measures economists use to assess the quality of life a place offers—job availability, cost of living, commute times, recreation, etc.—Wisconsin stacks up pretty well.

Martin Magana, executive chef at Tess on Milwaukee’s East Side, took home $5,000 after winning Newaukee’s inaugural Food Prize competition on Thursday.

Wisconsin’s Young Professional Week will feature about 180 seminars, workshops, discussions, and social events geared toward the millennial workforce.

In the meeting, I sat completely still, staring at the little, colorful pieces of paper that hung in lines on the wall of the YWCA Wausau building in downtown.

A program aimed to encourage millennials to move to the Lakeshore area and to help retain area young professionals is coming to Manitowoc.

When Emily Voss graduated from college four years ago, she had a decision to make. Should she move home and open her own photography studio, or take a chance and move to New York, where she'd be one of many trying to break into a competitive industry?

Eau Claire has been added to a program that celebrates young professionals in the state. YPWeek Wisconsin this year is April 22 to 29. According to a news release, “the grassroots, statewide program will run ... with each community presenting a variety of programs that empower young professionals to take ownership and pride in their home towns.”

Ten new Wisconsin communities will participate in this year's YPWeek, an annual event that aims to empower young professionals that was started by the Milwaukee social architecture firm Newaukee.

"There are two types of people who don't like Milwaukee: those who have never been here and those who never left," NEWaukee founder Ian Abston said, reiterating a quote he once heard during Monday's Young Professionals Week event at 88.9 Radio Milwaukee.