Nearly a decade ago, Paducah, Kentucky, put itself on the map as one of only nine UNESCO Creative Cities in the U.S.
Now, it's looking to blend that existing creative community with a new group of residents: remote workers.
The city of Paducah unveiled its $100,000 Remote Workers Incentive Program in August 2021 with the goal of attracting 25 new remote workers within a year. And it's well on its way to doing so, said Melanie Reason, a business development specialist with the city.
The program has had 23 applicants so far, Reason shared in an interview last week, and about half of them have been approved and are in the pipeline for relocation. It's had applicants from 12 states including Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, New York, Washington and, of course, Kentucky.
Current residents of Kentucky cities like Louisville, Lexington and Covington are eligible for the program, even though they are in the same state, because of their distance from Paducah. More on eligibility requirements can be found in the breakout below. Here's where you can apply.
Paducah's Remote Workers Incentive Program
Here's what the program offers: Up to $2,500 in reimbursement for costs associated with relocating to Paducah; up to $70 per month reimbursement for 12 months for fees associated with internet services; waiver of 2% payroll tax for 12 months; and cultural and educational amenities. In total, the package of incentives is valued at nearly $6,500, assuming an annual salary of $100,000.
Here's what makes an applicant eligible: Be 21 years old or older; be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident or have other credentials necessary to work in the U.S.; live at least 100 miles outside the city limits of Paducah at the time of application for the program; work full-time for a company in which all offices are located at least 100 miles outside the Paducah city limits; be able to perform a majority of their employment duties remotely from a home office or co-working space located inside the Paducah city limits evidenced by written documentation from their employer; acquire primary residency in the City of Paducah within three months of acceptance into the Remote Workers Incentive Program, as evidenced by a lease with a physical address or a deed of conveyance of real estate which includes a home; agree in writing to retain primary residence in the City of Paducah for at least one year beyond the initial 12-month program; and not be a participant in any other publicly-funded program/initiative.
Reason said a lot of research went into planning the first iteration of the program. And after seeing its initial success, Paducah is already seeking funding for a second year as it looks to expand it to digital nomads and those who are self-employed in the tech industry.
"We're certainly not the first ones to have a relocation program," Reason said. "Even at the time we were putting this together, there had already been a huge boom in communities across the country and across the world that are really doing the same type of work. We did a lot of case studies to see what everybody else is doing so we can be competitive, but also to see ideas on what might work and translate in Paducah."
While Paducah is one of the first Kentucky cities to launch such a program, other cities, such as Tulsa, Oklahoma, have been doing remote worker recruitment long before the coronavirus pandemic created so many remote jobs. Several small to mid-sized cities in Indiana — Bloomington, West Lafayette and Muncie — are also offering remote work incentives. You can check out a bunch of remote work incentive programs at makemymove.com.
Last fall, city leaders in Lexington debated a proposal to establish a remote worker incentive program that would have offered 200 remote workers a $10,000 stipend to relocate. It would have cost the city $3.4 million, according to WKYT.
Kentucky legislators have also been considering statewide remote worker incentives with bills introduced in the 2021 and 2022 sessions.
Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed a bill last year that would have included up to $15,000 in income tax breaks for individual remote workers to relocate or stay in Kentucky. This session's bill, House Bill 744, would create incentives for businesses that lure remote workers to Kentucky. It hasn't made it out of the house.
This isn't the first time Paducah has led the way in attracting new talent and companies to Western Kentucky.
Sprocket, a nonprofit organization that's working to build Paducah's entrepreneurial and tech ecosystem, hosts 1ST50K, a pitch competition that brings startups to Paducah with the promise of $50,000 in non-dilutive funding.
The first three winning companies moved to the city in November 2021, and it's looking to recruit another three companies in 2022. You can read more about Sprocket's work in its annual report.
Sprocket also offers a co-working space and is one of the Remote Workers Incentive Program's cultural and educational amenities that includes Murray State University, Paducah Symphony Orchestra and the Yeiser Art Center, among others.
"Our next step as a community is to embrace technology and our digital economy," Reason said. "We are already seeing that we're at the nexus of where technology and creativity intersect. It's an exciting time to be a resident of Paducah and we're seeing both of those sectors of our economy — creative and innovation — grow."
