Thanks to an Indiana-based company and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), California’s and New York’s losses are fast becoming Indiana’s gain.
In June, the Los Angeles Times and Fox News picked up on Indiana’s economic development effort to lure California and other states’ remote workers – and workers in general.
MakeMyMove, which was co-founded by the late Angie’s List co-founder Bill Oesterle, and the IEDC got shoutouts in the stories for the creative technology and tactics and incentives they’re employing to attract hundreds of highly paid remote workers to Indiana. Many of those workers are in the tech sector.
The L.A. Times story not only details Indiana’s efforts but includes some appealing photos of life in Hoosier communities.
The Fox News article headlines some of the creative incentives being offered, including golf club and local chamber of commerce memberships, thousands in cash, meals with local government officials, free babysitting services and even massages.
The concept of attracting remote workers is a relatively new endeavor – and one that Hoosier lawmakers included as part of Senate Bill 361, which passed in 2022. The Indiana Chamber’s BizVoice® magazine chronicled that and the growth of the effort spearheaded by MakeMyMove, which recently secured $2 million in venture capital to fuel the initiative.
Founded in 2018, the company’s original goal was to lure former Indiana residents to move back here for tech jobs.
So far, MakeMyMove and the IEDC have moved more than 520 people to the state since 2021. The IEDC has invested $2.2 million into the initiative and local communities have also invested about that amount, but Hock says it has been well worth it.
