By: Corey Jones
July 1st, 2023
Even prior to the pandemic the opportunity for remote work was becoming more common. Some cities began to recognize this trend as early as 2018 and developed innovative ways to attract remote workers to their communities. The city of Tulsa was the first to make a prescient decision to pay remote workers $10,000 to move there. Justin Harlan, the managing director of Tulsa Remote stated “we kind of placed a bet on remote workers coming and adding to the exciting things that were happening in Tulsa”. Of course, during the pandemic years the popularity of the Tulsa Remote program saw rapid growth, but its success continues today. A recent study published by the program finds most members of Tulsa Remote have stuck around, generating millions of dollars in estimated employment income and sales tax revenue for the city. Similar programs now also exist in Rochester, NY and Bloomington, Indiana.
Not only have cities recognized the opportunities associated with attracting remote workers, so have business development organizations. Muskoka Futures, a community futures development corporation located in Bracebridge, ON, created a program called ‘Muskoka 4.0’. Muskoka 4.0 markets the lifestyle of living and working in the Canadian Shield with a $250,000 convertible debenture to attract tech start-ups to their region. Their tagline “If you can change the world from anywhere – why not change the world from here?”.
Introducing Costarter 2.0!
Led by the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, Costarter 2.0 utilizes the traditional accelerator framework and combines it with the idea of attracting innovative start-ups and remote workers to a region that offers an incredible quality of life. Costarter 2.0 is a partnership between the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre, Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, Thunder Bay Ventures, City of Kenora Economic Development Organization and Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corporation. The program will see 4 start-ups locate their operations in Thunder Bay, ON and one start-up locate their operation in Kenora, ON. Each start-up will have access to an initial $20,000 cash contribution and upon successful completion of the formal accelerator program they will have access to an additional $250,000 in financing to continue scaling their start-up. Costarter 2.0 looks to build on the success of the two previously mentioned programs and make Northwestern Ontario a destination that offers start-ups an incredible quality of life combined with the financing needed to scale into global competitors.
Sources:
https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2023/06/22/most-tulsa-remote-workers-haven-t-left