“Boomerang Weekend,” held over the Thanksgiving weekend, is intended to connect Mainers returning home for the holiday with businesses that need their skills.

Boomerangs are the legions of Mainers who leave the state after high school for college or jobs. Employers are eager to draw those people back and fill critical gaps in the state’s labor force.

Live and Work in Maine, a group that recruits professionals to relocate to Maine, started Boomerang Weekend last year. The group distributed free, branded T-shirts, cups, literature and other swag to bars, restaurants and other locations in advance of Wednesday, known as one of the biggest party nights of the year.

This year, the group expanded participation in the event to more than 30 venues around the state, sponsored an annual foot race in Portland and a Shipyard Brewery party afterward. It’s also placed a blitz of social media ads aimed at Boomerangs and their parents, families and friends, people who might convince them to come back to advance their careers.

“A lot of people move back to Maine for a lot of really cool reasons,” said Live and Work in Maine Executive Director Nate Wildes in an interview this month. “It shouldn’t be an awkward topic – ‘are you moving back to Maine?’ – it should be a broader conversation as to why it is a good idea.”