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Vermont [ver-MONT] has launched a program that pays people to move and live there.
Last May, the US state passed the “Remote Worker Grant Program,” which will award $10,000 to remote workers, or people who do not work in an office, who will move into Vermont starting January 2019. The program is expected to boost the state’s population growth, which remains below national standards based on 2017 data.
As increasing Vermont’s workforce is also one of the program’s goals, Vermont Governor Phil Scott claimed that this out-of-the-box program will attract more professionals into the state. In the same vein, the director of Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies believes that the program can stimulate the state’s economy.
The initial stage of the program will award the grant to 100 people. After the first stage, the state will add 20 more beneficiaries each year.
To be eligible for the grant, applicants must be employed full-time by a business outside of Vermont. They must also become full-time residents of the state in 2019. Successful applicants will have their expenses covered, including relocation costs, Internet connection, computer software and hardware, and membership fees in coworking spaces, or places that rent out desks to remote workers.
Meanwhile, Vermont is not the first US state to pass a bill aiming to attract more residents. Connecticut / kəˈnet̬.ɪ.kət / also offers a loan of up to $10,000 to help new residents buy a house in the state. Similarly, some cities in Nebraska offer free tracts of land to developers and entrepreneurs. These initiatives hope to increase these states’ population and stimulate their economic development.