Maryland city offers remote workers $20,000 to relocate to once-booming manufacturing hub
At the edge of Appalachia in the Allegheny Mountains, the regulars at Caporale's Bakery almost always leave with their hands full — just like they've done for the last 118 years in the city of Cumberland, Maryland. While Dave Caporale is the fourth generation to man the counter, his dad Gus still helps out in the back.
But over time, the city around their bakery has changed. Once Maryland's second largest community, Cumberland was known as "The Queen City." Its crown lost its luster, though, as the area's three biggest factories all closed within five years.
"It was like a real busy town, and then they started downsizing. One leave and the other would leave and we really got hit by it big time," Gus Caporale said.
When the tire factory began laying off employees in 1978, workers told CBS News they hoped only a small group would be affected. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and the entire plant shuttered soon after.
As the companies left town, people did as well. In 1940, the population was nearly 40,000. Today, it's been halved to less than 20,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But now the city is hoping to turn the page. Last year, Mayor Ray Morriss announced an attention-grabbing offer — $20,000 for 10 people willing to move to the city.
"We were looking for people that were bringing their jobs with them. We were looking for remote workers," Morriss said.
Cumberland is one of more than 70 places in the U.S. that have paid people to uproot and move in over the past five years, according to MakeMyMove.com.
University of Maryland professor Evan Starr said the rise of remote work has made payment programs like these possible.
"If you're a government and you want to bring people to your area, well before remote work, you had to recruit businesses that were expanding. It could be difficult," Starr said.
He points to a successful pioneer in " Tulsa Remote," which has enticed more than 3,000 participants with grants of $10,000 each. The investment has paid off, raising an additional $11 million in new tax revenue, according to the program.
"They can use that money to spend on schools and other local amenities. They can make a big difference in the area," Starr said.
Dave Caporale is looking for a similar boost in Cumberland and hopes his family bakery could be bustling like it once was in the early fifties. But if "hope" alone won't get it done, the thinking here is to throw in some dough as well.
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