New round of incentives for remote, relocating workers

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - On this Labor Day we have an update to two of Vermont’s efforts to bring more workers into the state, including one that made headlines: the remote worker grant program.

As of January 2020, the state had given out half a million dollars to 140 new Vermont remote workers.

Including the family members those workers brought with them, the Economic Development Department says about 370 people were added total. About 64% were under the age of 40 and 91% were college graduates. The top fields were IT and management.

A second program gives relocation grants to workers who move here to work for Vermont companies.

That program gave 51 people $227,000.

The 38 who returned data to the state brought 46 family members with them. Nearly 80% were under the age of 40 and 87% were college grads. Most were in health care and education.

The state says the data shows both programs are incentivizing younger people to come to Vermont.

And they’re expanding both programs. Vermont just launched another round of grants for that relocation program.

About $400,000 is available for people who moved to the Green Mountain State to take jobs with Vermont employers after July 1. The state will reimburse up to $7,500 of moving expenses.

Vt. Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein told our Cat Viglienzoni demand is high for the program and they’re not sure exactly how many people they’ll be able to give money to yet.

“We haven’t put a number on it. Every year we are sort of surprised by the amount of people interested. And each year that we have had a similar program, we have been oversubscribed. So, hard to say right now,” Goldstein said.

Watch the video to see the full interview with Joan Goldstein.

The next round of remote worker grants launches in February. There is about $180,000 set aside for that one.

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