By Brittany Ryzenga
Just about one year ago, Dean and I had traveled to the International Economic Development Council’s Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. The four-day conference offered distinguished keynote speakers along with numerous breakout sessions. One of the sessions that really intrigued me was an explanation on the fresh marketing program launched by the city of Tulsa in 2019 called Tulsa Remote, where the city’s program paid out-of-state remote-working residents $10,000 to pickup and move to Tulsa.
I wrote a newsletter following the conference that detailed the unique program, understanding that the ability to work remotely was less common at the time. I now find it eerily foreshadowing that I ended the newsletter by asked readers, “Does your job give you the ability to move anywhere?” At the time, just less than one year ago, working from home was the minority, most common for tech or freelancers, but now, has become the majority.
Whether you read the article at the time or not, I’m sure many of you can agree that in October of 2019, you may not have been able to relocate or work from anywhere but due to unforeseen circumstances (a global pandemic!), you many now face a different situation.
Work-from-home or remote is becoming the norm and is looking like the future. Companies have been forced to figure out a way of making remote work possible and I believe the pandemic has changed the future of work. We will see the work-from-home shift exceed far past Covid-19 because employers have restructured the way they do things to make remote-work possible when it was the only way possible, are more open to the idea as they’ve seen it can work and are also saving money on office space.
With working remote now at the hands of many and children soon-to-be remote learning, the opportunity to relocate is a possibility and raises the question, “should we stay here if we can do this from anywhere?” What if a city or state would actually pay you to move there? Let’s look at a few more cities and states that are offering incentives.
Tulsa, OK-
The city of Tulsa offers a $10,000 bonus and a $1,000 housing stipend to self-employed or remote workers looking to relocate to the city within the next six months with the Tulsa Remote program.
Shoals, Alabama-
Northwestern Alabama also offers $10,000 to move there if you’re self-employed or full-time remote and make more than $52,000 through the Remote Shoals program.
Vermont-
Vermont’s Remote Worker Grant Program offers up to $5,000 per year for up to two years to full-time, remote workers.
Lincoln, Kansas-
Lincoln, Kansas doesn’t provide cash but instead, offers free land. The city gives away free residential lots to people with the intention of building a new home through the free home site program.
Marne, Iowa- The city of Marne also has a free lot program. Homes built must be at least 1,200 square feet, and the structure must be built within 18 months after signing the contract.
These are just five of the growing list of regions offering incentives for you to move there… Now the question is, if you’re now able to work remote, would you move for these incentives?