Cash-for-workers initiative picks new residents of W.VA.
CHARLESTON, W.VA. — A program offering $20,000 in cash and incentives for remote workers to move to West Virginia as part of a population push has chosen 33 people for its second class of newcomers and is now taking applications for a third host region, officials said this week.
Tourism officials said the public-private program received more than 3,600 applications for the latest round in the Greenbrier Valley, about the same number as there are residents in the laid-back southeastern community of Lewisburg.
The applicants recently selected for the Greenbrier Valley are from 19 states. The average annual income of those selected is about $125,000. The applicants will be bringing family members for a total of 61 new residents.
Among them is Ben Isenberg, a Maryland transplant who owns a branding agency and closed on a home 30 days after receiving his spot.
“Throughout the COVID19 pandemic, my family and
I set out to travel across the United States to stretch our legs and experience nature,” Isenberg said in a statement. “We traveled, camped and explored national parks across the country in search of a place that would feel like our forever home. As new West Virginia residents, I am proud to say that we have found just that and more in the Greenbrier Valley of West Virginia.”
Another new resident is returning home.
Andrew Neely graduated from Greenbrier East High School but moved away for a career in the Air Force. His most recent role was with a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company.
Neely said his return “is like a dream come true. I’m an avid fisherman, paddler and biker, so West Virginia makes complete sense as the place for me to put down roots.”
Last year, the first round of the Ascend West Virginia remote worker program welcomed 53 new residents from as far away as Germany to the northern college town of Morgantown.
Officials said Tuesday they are opening up new applications for the Eastern Panhandle, along with additional openings for Morgantown and the Greenbrier Valley.
Despite the state’s longterm population doldrums, the Eastern Panhandle is the fastest-growing region of West Virginia and is a cheaper living alternative for people who work a little more than an hour away in Washington.
The 2020 census found West Virginia lost a greater percentage of its residents than any other state in the past decade, and is now the only state with fewer residents than it had in 1950. Residents left as jobs in the coal, steel and other industries were eliminated. West Virginia has lost 56% of its coal mining jobs since 2009 as power plants turn toward renewable energy sources.
Under the remote worker program, out-ofstate participants who move to West Virginia will receive $12,000 along with annual passes to indulge in whitewater rafting, golf, rock climbing, horseback riding, skiing and ziplining. The full relocation package is valued at more than $20,000.