AS OTHERS SEE IT:

It pays to move to Vermont

Want to move to Vermont? The state will welcome you not only with open arms but also an open wallet.

As of Jan. 1, the state began accepting applications for its new remote-worker program, under which people who work remotely for out-ofstate companies will get $10,000 to move to Vermont. The money will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until a one-time $500,000 appropriation made by the Legislature is exhausted. To qualify, applicants must be a full-time employee of an out-of- state company and be able to perform most of their duties remotely from a home office or from a co-working space in Vermont.

Gov. Phil Scott, thrilled by the international buzz generated when the remote-worker program was announced last summer, now wants to expand it by paying out-of-staters $5,000 to move to Vermont and take a job, any job. With a state unemployment rate of 2.8 percent, there are many of them available.

And if you are an entrepreneurial type, the Woodstock Economic Development Commission is offering commercial rent subsidies to open retail outlets or restaurants in the town’s central village district.

The backdrop for offering these incentives is the well-documented challenge posed by the state’s rapidly aging population and declining worker-age cohort. Vermont has the nation’s third-highest median age at 42.7 years, according to census figures. Scott’s office says that there are now 23,000 fewer Vermonters under the age of 20 than in 2000 and nearly 30,000 more over the age of 65.

Despite the incentives on offer, attracting lots of newcomers might prove to be a tough sell.