W.Va. to pay remote workers $12,000 to move there; a pro has advice for towns that want to launch a similar program

West Virginia is trying to lure remote workers to move to the Mountain State with a healthy cash bonus. The Ascend West Virginia program, announced last week, will pay participants $10,000 in equal payments for 12 months, followed by a lump sum of $2,000 at the end of the year. "The package, which is worth $20,000, also includes a year's worth of free outdoor recreation, including whitewater rafting and downhill skiing," Sarah Dewberry reports.

Applications are open for the first 50 spots in Morgantown, the first of three host cities. Applications will open next January for Lewisburg, pop. 3,830, and next April for Shepherdstown, pop. 1,734, according to the website. Applicants must be 18 and work a full-time remote job for a company outside of West Virginia. The program is funded by the state and West Virginia University, along with a $25-million gift from Intuit executive and Kenova, W.Va., native Brad Smith and his wife Alys. The program is an initiative of WVU's Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative, which aims to boost state and local economies and develop and expand outdoor educational opportunities using the state's "outdoor assets."

The program is the latest example of state and local governments trying to attract the remote workers fleeing big cities for greener pastures during the pandemic. Some places, like Vermont, were trying the strategy even before the pandemic, and for good reason. The new residents can cause growing pains for towns, but the boost in population could prove transformative for local economies.

Many towns and cities (and likely some states) are also trying attract remote workers. The CEO of Atheseus, a company that helps communities create and execute strategies to attract remote workers, lists ten questions communities should ask themselves before creating such strategies. First of all, communities must figure out how they'll fund a remote worker program, and how much funding they'll realistically need, Deborah Cook Smith writes for Route Fifty. Read more here.