There was a great article in The Atlantic at the end of July that examined moving incentives being offered by communities across the country faced with declining populations. The gist of these programs is to entice white-collar workers from wealthier parts of the country — many who may now be permanent remote workers — to these communities to enjoy a slice of life in quieter, less expensive locales that often offer much more in the way of outdoor experiences.
Berrien County, Michigan was profiled. It’s been referred to as “the Hamptons of the Midwest” for its sandy beaches and vineyards, but its population has been declining since the 1970s. A private group, the Cornerstone Alliance, is offering people $10,000 to $15,000 in incentives to relocate to Berrien County. The hope was for 25 incentives to be given out by the end of this year; so far, just one person has taken the bait.
Other communities have been offering similar moving incentives for several years. The first and most successful of them was Tulsa, Oklahoma, which started its program in 2018 and has so far lured more than 1,000 people from all over the country to the city. The problem? As successful as the program has been, the new arrivals amount to just a small (0.25%) population increase.
These types of gimmicks make headlines, briefly. But they rarely, if ever, amount to anything. And why? Because if your community was worth living in, people wouldn’t be leaving, and you wouldn’t need any extra incentives to attract potential new residents.
The same can be said for companies struggling to find workers right now. Maybe they raised wages a little bit. Maybe they’re offering a sign-on bonus. But the reason they can’t get applicants in the door isn’t because no one wants to work anymore, it’s because the company isn’t an attractive place to work, and people can see through the gimmicks.
IB highlighted some incredible small businesses in our July issue as part of our annual Dane County Small Business Awards. Among them was Firefly Coffeehouse & Artisan Cheese in Oregon. At our awards reception on July 14, Firefly co-owner Jeanne Carpenter noted that her restaurant might be the only one in Dane County that’s fully staffed. Why? Because from day one, when Carpenter and her husband, Uriah, took over the business in 2017, they made a commitment to their baristas to treat them with the respect true professionals deserve. That meant living wages for everyone, full benefits, monthly bonuses, and surprise paid holidays, and even a monthly living allowance for any employees who choose to live in Oregon. They didn’t just start offering this to employees when they were desperate to attract them, they did it from the beginning because it was the right thing to do. And they’re reaping the rewards with loyal employees who stick around.
At my previous magazine job, we had a direct competitor that handed out deals to advertisers all the time as an incentive to bring in business. I’m not a salesperson and never have been. But it shouldn’t take a genius to know that needing to offer deals to everyone to get them to do business with you is no way to do business. If your service or product isn’t worth paying full price, then it’s probably not worth a discount either.
And if a business didn’t value workers enough to treat them like professionals and pay a living wage before the pandemic, why would anyone think the business values them now that it’s only offering decent money because it feels forced to?
Workers finally have a little power again, and they should absolutely leverage it to get reluctant employers to wake up to the reality that treating staff like real professionals, regardless of whether they’re bringing in $1 million accounts or serving that 1 billionth hamburger, will always be good business.
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