The state is dotted by shrinking agricultural communities where the median age is well above 40.

Wyoming Grown is run by the state’s Department of Workforce Services and is modeled on similar programs in South Dakota and Idaho. The program welcomes non-Wyomingites, but targets those who grew up here, people who will not go running after their first winter of brutal wind and subzero temperatures.

The program’s website tugs at the heartstrings of those who have left. “You know the Wyoming spirit,” reads the front page, “low-drama, tenacious and independent.” But it also works to present a modern face. “We have yoga, microbreweries, triathlons and live jam sessions,” it reads. “Were you thinking Wyoming is all ATVs, fly fishing and rodeo? Well, they’ve gotten even better. But so have the lattes.”

Jordell Brady, 32, of Green River, Wyo., called the program “genius.”

Ms. Brady moved to Westminster, Colo., a suburb of Denver, in 2008, seeking excitement. But the area — with its soaring rents and traffic-clogged streets — soon began to grate on her. “You can’t go to a lake without a million people there,” she said. “Life is easier in Wyoming. It’s slower. It’s a place where you actually appreciate the sunsets.”

She heard about the program from her mother and enrolled in May, on the day after it started. She continues at her job as an analyst at a supply company in Denver, while a recruiter works to help her find a job back home.

Wenlin Liu, a state economist, said that Wyoming’s dependence on coal and oil money had long made it vulnerable to boom-and-bust cycles. He applauded the state’s effort to diversify its economy, but cautioned that the recruitment program would have a limited effect.