Latest news with #TulsaRemote
Entrepreneur
a day ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Tulsa Sees Massive ROI on Remote Workers Grant Program
The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been offering its Tulsa Remote program since 2018. The incentive program offers a $10,000 grant to remote workers to move to Tulsa for at least one year. So far, about 3,500 grants have been issued. Now, a new study found that the offering has been a financial success, giving more than $4 back to the city's residents for every $1 spent. In the report, "The Effects of Tulsa Remote on Inducing Moves to Tulsa: Estimates and Implications," Tim Bartik, a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute, found that the program was six times more efficient at creating jobs than a business tax incentive of the same cost. Tulsa Remote also led to an improved quality of life for residents who were not a part of the program. Related: Working Past Retirement Age? Here Are the 10 Best States for Employed Seniors, According to a New Report. "Ultimately, if a local community is considering a remote worker attraction program, voters will want to know what such a program might mean for their standard of living," Bartik said in a statement. "Are the original local residents better off?" Bartik found that the program increased property values and led to more spending at local retailers, which in turn created local jobs. The new residents also helped to increase the local tax base by more than they use in services, allowing local governments to cut taxes or expand services, Bartik said. The report also notes that more than 100 communities are offering incentives to move there. Business Insider highlights 21 of them here, with programs offering everything from cash to free land. According to Tusla Remote's 2024 Sustainable Growth & Economic Impact report, people who have moved to Tusla for the grant, called "Remoters," have collectively generated $622 million in direct employment income. Meanwhile, 70% are still there after completing the program. Two of those "Remoters," Faith Langevin and Matt Costanza, tell that they left Atlanta, Georgia, for the program in Tulsa and are still there three years later. "We found our community," Langevin told "I think we became better people." Related: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon Says Only One Group Is Complaining About Returning to the Office
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Tulsa's Economy Reaps Benefit of Remote Worker Program
For every dollar Tulsa spent to pay remote workers to move there, the Oklahoma city generated $4.31 in local economic benefits — more than double the return ratio of traditional incentive programs aimed at attracting large employers. That's according to a new study on Tulsa Remote, one of the first and largest programs in the US to lure new residents with financial incentives. Since 2018, more than 3,400 people have received $10,000 to relocate through Tulsa Remote, the majority of whom still live in the city today. Adding these new workers has boosted incomes for existing residents and created new jobs, while also building Tulsa's tax base, the study found. Fola Akinnibi and I look at what made the program work, and how the study's finding can be instructive for other cities. Today on CityLab: The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
21 cities and towns across the US that offer cash and other perks to people who move there
Some American towns and cities offer major incentives to lure people to move there. The perks, often aimed at qualifying remote workers, range from cash to free land to gift cards. Business Insider rounded up 21 places that compensate people to move there in some way. Remote work and a search for affordable housing have reshaped where people live. Cities across the US that might have previously flown under the radar are offering new residents big incentives, from cash to free land. Lillian Griffith moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, from Alpharetta, Georgia, in August 2022 to take advantage of the Tulsa Remote program, which granted her $10,000 simply for relocating to the city. "The Tulsa Remote program is not some elitist program that only accepts people who work in high-paying positions," Griffith, a data engineer, told Business Insider in 2023. "It's more about pulling people who can bring a good culture to the city." New residents can boost the communities offering the incentives, too. Perry County, Indiana, located an hour west of Louisville, Kentucky, offers qualifying new residents $7,000 split into two payments — $3,500 when they arrive and $3,500 after 12 months. It's an investment in the region's future, said Shiraz Mukarram, manager at the Perry County Development Corporation. "We do not want Perry County to be one of those statistics of a declining population. We want to make it grow," Mukarram told BI. Since the program began in 2023, 16 families have moved to Perry County from states like Florida, Georgia, California, and Massachusetts with great success, Mukarram added. Just this past February, a high schooler whose family moved from Virginia was elected to the high school's Homecoming Court. The perks offered vary from place to place. Hamilton, Ohio — a city of 63,000 about 20 miles north of Cincinnati — is courting recent college graduates with a program that offers up to $15,000 a year toward student-loan repayments. Meanwhile, Manilla, Iowa, a small town about 90 minutes west of Des Moines, offers relocators free plots of land to build houses. Business Insider rounded up 21 places across the US that are dishing out perks to anyone who moves there, presented in alphabetical order. Do you know of another city that pays people to move there? Did you get paid to move somewhere? We'd love to hear about it. Email reporter Jordan Pandy at jpandy@ A lottery program in Baltimore wants to reduce the upfront costs required for prospective residents to buy a home. Buying Into Baltimore is a program that awards $5,000 in down-payment and closing-cost assistance to a few lucky prospective homebuyers who enter a lottery after attending a special Trolley Tour that is held three times a year. (The next one is Saturday, May 3.) The prize is not limited to first-time homebuyers, but following the event, applicants have 10 business days to make an offer on a home, have the offer accepted, and obtain a contract of sale to be eligible to even enter the lottery. A special note for remote workers considering making a move — the property must also be used as a primary residence. A city on a lake in Minnesota wants to reimburse you for your relocation costs. Bemidji, a 15,000-person city in northern Minnesota, has a program offering remote workers interested in moving to the area six months of free internet service, a one-year membership to a coworking space, a one-year membership to the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce, and free access to community programs and events. To qualify, movers must work primarily from home and be relocating from at least 60 miles away. Columbus, Georgia, will pay remote workers $5,000 to move there. Columbus, a 200,000-person city on the Georgia-Alabama border, is offering $5,000 to remote workers who move there. Together with MakeMyMove, a site that connects remote workers with places offering them incentives, Columbus also offers relocators other perks, including six months of time at a coworking space, coffee with the mayor, and a two-night hotel stay for a visit before your move. The total package is worth $8,700, according to MakeMyMove. In order to qualify for the program, you need to be employed full-time, earn at least $75,000, and live at least 75 miles outside Columbus at the time of the application. A Kentucky nonprofit is trying to reverse population loss by offering $7,500 to people who move to one of 34 counties in the state. The nonprofit Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) was founded to reverse population loss in the rural, mountainous regions of Kentucky. It offers relocation grants to remote workers, which include $5,000 for the worker who moves, plus an additional $2,500 bonus if their partner secures a job in education or healthcare. Interested remote workers can move to any of 34 eligible counties in the eastern part of Kentucky; the swath includes a scenic network of canyons called the Red River Gorge and the Country Music Highway Museum, dedicated to artists from the region like Billy Ray Cyrus and The Judds. Applicants must make $70,000 and currently reside outside Kentucky. A small town in Indiana is offering "Grandparents on Demand" to movers and $5,000 to offset relocation costs. Greensburg, a 10-square-mile Indiana town between Indianapolis and Cincinnati, is offering several incentives to potential movers. The town worked with MakeMyMove to create the program, which offers anyone relocating to the area $5,000 cash, roughly $2,000 in gift cards to local businesses, a yearlong membership to a local coworking space and the YMCA, and access to childcare. Greensburg's "Grandparents on Demand" program pairs newcomers with older adults in the area who can provide babysitting services or even act as stand-ins at school Grandparents Day free of charge. Hamilton, Ohio, assists recent graduates with their student-loan payments. Hamilton, Ohio — a city of 63,000 about 20 miles north of Cincinnati — is encouraging recent college graduates to apply for its Talent Attraction Program Scholarship. Scholarship recipients can get up to $15,000 a year toward student loan payments. In order to qualify for the scholarship, you must have graduated from a STEAM (science, tech, engineering, the arts, or math) program within the last seven years. You must not already live in the city of Hamilton but have plans to move or live in what the city defines as one of its urban neighborhoods. Applicants must demonstrate employment within Butler County or a full-time remote position. Preference is given to people "with a desire to give back to the community and become engaged in activities." Applications are open until July 1 and are reviewed on a rolling basis. Ketchikan, Alaska, pays up to $2,000 a year to live there and provides free internet. Ketchikan, a scenic coastal city near the southernmost tip of Alaska that is a 90-minute flight from Seattle, launched the Choose Ketchikan program in November 2021. Applicants over 18 must be "fully employed." To be eligible, an individual or family must currently live outside Alaska while working remotely for a company that is also outside Alaska. After relocation, all Alaska residents get an annual payment from Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend, which can be as much as $3,000 a year or more. Ketchikan, which touts its clean air and drinking water, is also offering new residents three months of free high-speed internet. A quaint town in central Kansas is giving away free land to build your home on. Lincoln, Kansas, a town of about 1,100, is offering free residential land plots just outside the city's downtown. The city grants a deed to people who agree to build a home, which can range from 14,000 to 35,000 square feet, on one of the lots — as long as it meets certain design guidelines. Before building the house, the applicant must provide a deposit of 8 cents per square foot; the money is refunded upon completion of the home. It's a modest request since one contractor said the cost to build a custom home in the state starts at more than $100 per square foot. Lincoln has a deep culture of history with museums such as the Post Rock Scout Museum and the Lincoln Historical Museum. According to Live Lincoln County, you do not have to be a resident of Lincoln, or even the state of Kansas, to participate in the program. There are no rules against building a home for the sole purpose of reselling or flipping it. The state of Maine offers student-loan repayment assistance to eligible college graduates. Maine has said it can reimburse residents who graduated after 2007 through its student loan repayment tax credit program. If you live in Maine during the tax year, you are likely eligible for a tax credit that could total up to $2,500 annually, up to $25,000 lifetime, toward student-loan payments. Additional perks are available for graduates with STEM degrees, including the possibility of refunding the entirety of their state tax payments. Manilla, Iowa, is offering free plots of land to people who will build homes on them. Manilla — a small city in western Iowa — is offering free lots of land to anyone looking to build a single-family home. Manilla is also eliminating taxes on the homes built on the "no cost lots" for the first five years. A program in West Virginia is offering potential new residents $12,000 in cash. West Virginia launched a program named Ascend WV to attract out-of-state remote workers to Morgantown, a vibrant college town home to West Virginia University. To be eligible, potential residents must be 18 years or older, able to verify remote employment, and willing to move to the city of 30,000 for two years. Those accepted to the program are expected to relocate to Morgantown within six months and receive $12,000 in cash in monthly installments. If people choose to purchase a home in West Virginia, they can get the remaining cash payments in a lump sum. Other perks of the program include a coworking-space membership and free outdoor-gear rentals. In addition to Morgantown, Ascend WV also incentivizes moves to other parts of West Virginia: the Greenbrier Valley, the Eastern Panhandle, the New River Gorge area, and Greater Elkins community. Newton, Iowa, is offering homebuyers more than $10,000 to buy a house priced at $240,000 or more. Newton, Iowa, about 30 miles east of Des Moines, wants to give relocators who purchase a home there cash upon closing. The city is offering $10,000 in cash to buyers of homes valued at more than $240,000 and a five-year tax abatement for homes below that value. Eligible homes include single-family new builds that started construction in 2020 or 2021. There's also a "Get to Know Newton Welcome Package" that includes gifts from local businesses and opportunities to attend local events, including at the Iowa Speedway. A town outside Indianapolis is offering a $5,000 grant and other perks to new residents. Located just 30 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, Noblesville is home to the Ruoff Music Center, the region's most significant outdoor concert venue. The town is offering new residents a package that includes a $5,000 relocation grant, a $500 health and wellness stipend, and a one-year membership to a local coworking space, among other incentives. Remote workers interested in the program must make at least $80,000 annually and be able to relocate within six months of applying. A small Illinois town is offering $5,000 to movers looking for work. Quincy, Illinois, a town of 40,000 on the Missouri border, has also launched a program to incentivize Americans to relocate there. The Quincy Workforce Relocation Assistance Program, also called Quincy's Calling, offers movers who can get a job within the county a property-tax rebate of up to $5,000 after one year of living and working in the area. If you would prefer to rent, you can get a rental rebate of up to $3,500 after six months of residency and employment. Remote workers aren't eligible for the program. New residents must work in Adams County, where Quincy is. A small county in Indiana is paying qualified remote workers $7,000. Since 2023, Perry County has offered a cash incentive of $7,000 to qualifying remote workers and their families who move to the rural community. Located between Evansville, Illinois, and Louisville, Kentucky, along the Ohio River, Perry County has less than 20,000 residents, according to the most recent census data. The $7,000 payment is split into two installments — one when families first move and another after 12 months. Families also receive a welcome basket that includes freebies from local fudge to discounted WiFi. Eligible applicants must make $50,000 at a job they can retain when they move and be able to relocate within 6 months. A handful of cities in Alabama are offering remote workers who move to the area $10,000 cash, paid out over a year. The Shoals in Alabama — a cluster of municipalities including Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia that straddles the banks of the Tennessee River — is offering remote workers $10,000 to move to the area. Near the border with Tennessee and Mississippi, the four cities are just a few hours from hubs including Memphis, Nashville, and Birmingham. The program offers $2,500 upfront for relocation costs, an additional $2,500 six months after moving there, and $5,000 at the end of the first year of residency. Eligible applicants must be over 18 and able to move to the region within six months. They must also be employed outside the area and have a minimum annual income of $52,000. Southwest Michigan is offering remote workers $15,000 toward a down payment on a home, along with other perks. A string of ZIP codes in southwest Michigan is looking to entice people with up to $15,000 to put toward a home purchase and more than $5,000 in additional perks. Those extras include memberships to athletic clubs, driving ranges, coworking spaces, and more. Applicants to the Move to Michigan program must be willing to purchase a $200,000 home in the region, which is on the shores of Lake Michigan. They must also be willing to become a full-time Michigander by securing a Michigan driver's license and claiming the state as their primary residence. Applicants must also have current full-time, remote employment outside Michigan. Sign up for the program's newsletter for updates. Texarkana, which straddles Texas and Arkansas, offers a $5,000 relocation bonus to new residents. Texarkana is a pair of neighboring twin cities with the same name in both states it straddles: Texas and Arkansas. The cities have separate municipal governments but often operate as one metropolitan region. It has a joint offer for remote workers moving to either city. Texarkana is offering a $5,000 relocation bonus along with other incentives, including free tickets to the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and a 25% tuition discount at Texas A&M at Texarkana, the local four-year public university. Eligible applicants must make at least $75,000 a year. They must reside outside the state of Arkansas or, if a Texas resident, at least 75 miles from Texarkana. Topeka, Kansas, is offering potential new residents up to $15,000 to move there. Kansas' state capital has teamed up with employers to offer cash to those willing to move there. Participants of the program, called Choose Topeka, can receive up to $15,000 if they purchase a home in Topeka and secure a job in the area. Remote workers with employment outside the area can earn up to $5,000 toward rental costs or $10,000 toward a home purchase. As an added bonus, Jimmy John's, the sandwich franchise, throws in an extra $1,000 for anyone who moves within delivery range of one of its shops. Tucson, Arizona, is offering remote workers perks and services worth about $7,500. A local economic-development organization launched Remote Tucson during the pandemic to lure remote workers to the area. The program offers relocators $1,500 toward moving costs, one year of free internet, free trials at local coworking spaces, membership to a local cultural institution, networking opportunities, and more. Eligible applicants must be over 18 years old, have full-time remote employment outside the area, and be able to move to Tucson within six months. Tulsa Remote, one of the country's most well-known incentive programs, offers remote workers $10,000 grants. Tulsa Remote, a program that started in 2018, is designed to draw new residents to Oklahoma. Since 2018, the program has helped more than 1,400 people relocate to Tulsa. The program offers $10,000, which people can put toward purchasing or renting a home in Tulsa. It also offers $500 travel reimbursements and a $150 Airbnb credit for applicants to familiarize themselves with the area. Insider previously interviewed four folks who hailed from major cities on both US coasts and made the move to Tulsa; most said it was a fantastic decision. To qualify for the program, applicants must be over 18 and live outside Oklahoma. They must also prove a consistent stream of income and the ability to work remotely. Applicants must also promise to commit to moving to and living in Tulsa for at least one year. Taylor Borden, Libertina Brandt, and Leanna Garfield contributed to previous versions of this story. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Billionaires need to launch moonshots in the heartland, not just outer space
A growing cohort of tech billionaires is focused on etching their imprints on extraterrestrial realms. Elon Musk wants to create a moon base and send humans to Mars. Jeff Bezos is testing a massive new rocket for outer space. And Jared Isaacman, the aerospace entrepreneur and Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, backs colonizing Mars. Exciting ventures all, but in their gumption, they've lost perspective on an opportunity here on planet Earth. The American heartland is increasingly isolated from the innovation economies that made such billionaires so wealthy. Musk, Bezos, Isaacman, and other tech billionaires should harness their immense power and contribute to a bold project at home: helping heartland cities reinvent themselves for the 21st century. The payoff from sparking Midwestern economic moonshots that create good-paying jobs may not be as romantic as playing out some Star Trek fantasy, but America needs tech billionaires to step into a more civic-minded role—and the rewards are likely to be profound. In previous generations, industry titans harbored their own big dreams at the vanguard of innovation. During Cornelius Vanderbilt's lifetime, steamship races on the Hudson River were a source of public spectacle. Despite the monopolies that made robber barons like Vanderbilt rich, many of their audacious investments were accompanied by a separate and contemporaneous wish to pull the whole of society up along with them. (Vanderbilt would go on to seed the Nashville university named in his honor.) The landmarks such barons left America reflected their desire to extend a ladder back down to those being left behind by technological change. Today, the absence of any similar impulse is working to sobering effect. The decay across the middle of America isn't just bad for those who feel trapped there in cycles of downward mobility—it also presents an opportunity for those billionaire investors and philanthropists to establish a positive legacy. Rather than look to the stars, they should seize the opportunity under their noses. I speak from experience. In 2019, I founded Tulsa Innovation Labs, an economic development organization supported by oil tycoon George Kaiser and his family foundation. With a $6 billion endowment, Kaiser's philanthropy is transforming Tulsa by diversifying the region's oil and gas economy and catalyzing an innovation ecosystem. In addition to Tulsa Innovation Labs, Kaiser has funded Tulsa Remote, an incentive program attracting remote tech workers to northeast Oklahoma; Build in Tulsa, which supports Black startup founders; and the Atlas School, a coding bootcamp. After a new approach to economic development and public, private, and social sector investment, the region is expected to grow at least 20,000 tech jobs over the next decade—about a third of which are attainable without a bachelor's degree. Tulsa is a shining example of what could happen if some of the country's 800-plus billionaires began launching moonshots here at home and then began holding each other accountable for following through as civic leaders. The needs are desperate. In the world of technology, AI is all the rage—the next frontier in a perpetual desire to disrupt less productive patterns in the economy and solve intractable scientific problems. But for most of America, the labor market disruptions that could result from AI are a rumbling source of terror. For all that upheaval is celebrated by techies in New York, Seattle, and Boston, it's viewed as a looming scourge in St. Louis, Cleveland, and Kansas City. And that is casting a generalized pall over the heartland that has been decades in the making. In places that thrived through the post-World War II era, the working class is hurting, and the middle class is shrinking. The tech economy feels as distant as Mars. But those places would flourish again if their potential was recognized and cultivated in a smart and judicious way with a bit more investment from those otherwise focused on the stratosphere. First, those interested in reinventing the heartland need to pursue the goal strategically—this can't be done as a slapdash effort driven solely by personal interests. Chicago's economy is enormous, for example, but it lags behind coastal peers in tech. Billionaire heiress Penny Pritzker's nonprofit P33, an inclusive growth organization she launched, has crafted a targeted strategy to bolster a deepening well of innovation and entrepreneurship in quantum, biotechnology, and decarbonization—clusters ripe for growth in the Windy City. Chicago already boasts great hospitals and universities. Pritzker, who served as U.S. Commerce Secretary in the Obama admin, is weaving those existing assets into a new tech community and creating accessible pathways for Chicagoans to benefit from it. Second, resources need to be deployed on a systematic basis, not as one-off and disconnected projects. Just as communities are interdependent, so too are innovation ecosystems. Universities, financiers, entrepreneurs, and more need one another to grow together. When the Walton Family decided to breathe new life into Northwest Arkansas, they not only invested in the local university and workforce system, but they also founded Right to Start, an initiative to support entrepreneurs from underserved communities, and built networks connecting founders, mentors, capital, and talent. To build an entrepreneurial culture, they needed to support several nodes of regional life, and in doing so, are proving that there's real tech potential in rural parts of America. Finally, investors should summon the courage to make big, early bets, on the expectation that others will follow if they do. The most significant barrier for most heartland cities in transitioning legacy economies to tech is in attracting their first significant backer. After Bill Ford Jr., the great-grandson son of Henry Ford, founded Michigan Central, Detroit's 30-acre epicenter for tech and innovation, the city and state showed a new willingness to invest, and then Google entered with another major investment. Absent a commitment to Detroit's future and that first green light from Ford, it's not clear that the other investments would have materialized. Ventures in the cosmos and the heartland need not be mutually exclusive—but the balance of investment in these two distinct realms needs to change, and fast. America's geography of innovation is dangerously skewed. Concentrating wealth and opportunity on the coasts leaves the nation vulnerable to economic and social instability, while limiting our global competitiveness. Billionaires have the power to build a more resilient, equitable, and prosperous America; to do so, they should work with heartland cities in the spirit of collaboration, not colonization. The question they must ask themselves is simple: Do they want their legacies to be defined by vanity projects, or do they want to be remembered for reviving the American Dream? Mars can wait. America's heartland cannot. The opinions expressed in commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maryland city offers $20,000 to relocate to former 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 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. Holocaust survivors on bearing witness Latest news on Pope Francis' health after lung infection, kidney failure Behind the scenes of "Survivor" Season 48
