Would you ever think about moving to Vermont? What if someone reimbursed you $10,000? Well, it is precisely the arrangement drawn up in Vermont’s Remote Worker Grant Program. It is an effort to get working professionals to leave their homes and move to Vermont, to increase the small state’s portion of educated, young, working residents.
Why Does Vermont Want Remote Workers?
It is more possible to work from home today than at any time in history. The Internet allows people to have viable careers at well-known companies without ever setting foot at headquarters. Many people prefer the peace and flexibility that this career lifestyle affords. It is an arrangement that does tend to make remote workers more than a little bit untethered from their place of residence.
The logic is that if you are a remote worker and can work anywhere, you might as well live in Vermont as part of the program. Vermont only has about 625,000 residents. Recent statistics showed that Vermont is losing its residents. The decline is slow, at only about 0.12% per year. However, any reduction in size makes it very difficult for the state to improve its station. It can be tough for regions as progressively-minded as Bernie Sanders’ Burlington (see Propy’s technology in South Burlington). If Vermont can get a large number of remote workers to become residents, the movement can help to turn the tide.
How Does the Remote Worker Grant Program Work?
Basically, if you are a remote worker who becomes an official resident of Vermont, the state will give you $5,000 two times: once in your first year of residence and once in your second year. To qualify, you must be employed remotely full-time and work from home or coworking space in Vermont (see other Remote Worker Grant Program rules).
Some other terms apply, but that is the gist of this rewarding program. Vermont will not be the first U.S. state to offer financial incentives to new potential residents, but it may be the first state to target the remote worker segment so aggressively. Hopefully, the strategy works.
