- Michigan’s population is flat, growing slower than any state except West Virginia
- One idea: Paying people to move. Nationwide, there are nearly 300 similar relocation programs
- Michigan is spending $1.4 million on such programs, but previous efforts have paid few dividends
Five years ago, Berrien County put up a sweet offer: up to $15,000 to any out-of-state remote worker who moved into the county.
Despite heavy marketing and a lot of media attention, the program attracted just eight households and ended after less than two years.
“I’m not sure that’s where we want to put this focus,” a leader of the program said at the time.
Despite that failure — and the mixed results of a long list of pay-to-move programs around the state and country — southwest Michigan is at it again.
Leaders in the region are using $100,000 in state money to give $5,000 in housing down payment assistance to people who live in other states but move to Berrien, Cass or Van Buren counties. Those who move have to take a job in one of those three counties that pays at least $40,000 a year.
More than 700 people have applied since applications opened this spring. Molly McFadden, resource development director for the Southwest Michigan Regional Chamber, which is spearheading the program, said officials are close to placing their first new resident.
Like much of Michigan, the three southwest Michigan counties have flat or declining populations. Leaders of the new initiative, called Discover Southwest Michigan, said they need to reverse that trend, boost the tax base and attract workers for job vacancies.
Natalie Baggio, the southwest Michigan president for hospital system Corewell Health, said the program could help meet Corewell’s needs for employees.
“I’m a big proponent of thinking differently and trying new and innovative ways to solve a problem,” she said. “So I think this was a great attempt to try to attract new people to live here in a beautiful part of the country.”
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Pay-to-move programs have grown popular since the boom of remote work during the coronavirus pandemic. Make My Move, an Indianapolis outfit that promotes relocation programs around the country and partnered with Michigan for its pay-to-move efforts, lists nearly 300 communities nationwide offering some kind of relocation incentive.
Learning from the past
In southwest Michigan, McFadden said officials learned from past failures and designed their program differently.
While the previous Berrien County initiative targeted remote workers who could keep their out-of-state jobs, Discover Southwest Michigan seeks out-of-staters who will work at local jobs.
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And Discover Southwest Michigan is more holistic than previous outings, McFadden said.
In addition to $5,000 in housing down payment assistance and free tuition at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, the program also helps movers connect with local employers and child care providers and offers tours to help movers familiarize themselves with the community.
The program also shares data it collects from applicants with housing developers to help the developers make smarter investments, McFadden said. A lack of housing was a major reason the earlier Berrien County initiative failed, leaders said.
“I think one of the big things, at least for us with this program, is taking it as part of an ecosystem,” McFadden said. “So if you’re trying to bring people to the area, but they can’t afford housing, they can’t find child care, they can’t find good jobs, they’re not going to come. We partner with a lot of entities that are looking to remove those barriers.”
Corewell Health could feed new arrivals into its pipeline programs at southwest Michigan colleges, Baggio, the regional president, said. The hospital system also is developing employee housing in St. Joseph and Grand Rapids.
“That’s why it’s so important that these community partners are in alignment with one another and help support the direction and the mission of our communities,” she said.
‘Not interested in growth for growth’s sake’
Discover Southwest Michigan is one of 10 similar programs around the state funded through the Michigan Growth Office’s $1.4 million Make MI Home pilot program.
That campaign to bring people in or keep people here is part of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s efforts to grow the population in Michigan, which grew slower than any state except West Virginia between 1990 and 2020.
Whitmer’s answer to that malady was a council that late in 2023 released a widely panned 85-page list of broad recommendations such as reforming education and investing in public transportation.
Last year, Whitmer formed the Growth Office with four staffers who were already doing the work in other offices. A member of a think tank said then “it’s hard to point to anything they’re doing about” spurring growth.
Hilary Doe, the state’s chief growth officer, said recently that Make MI Home is a grassroots effort that will yield dividends.
Each Make MI Home program is different. Detroit took more than $200,000 to support graduates of Michigan universities who want to start tech companies in the Motor City. Grand Rapids took $200,000 to recruit science, technology, engineering, math or health educators. Flint took $100,000 to connect local college grads to local employers to try to keep them in the area.
Doe said the state designed Make MI Home to allow each community to tailor its program to its individual needs. She said that a targeted and community-driven approach would help the effort succeed where past efforts have failed.
“We’re not interested in growth for growth’s sake,” Doe said. “The intention has always really been ensuring we have a working-age population that’s sufficient to help grow our economy and that we’re helping local communities support their local growth goals.”
A boon when they work
While pay-to-move programs around the country have seen mixed results, they can be a boon for communities when they work.
Tulsa, Oklahoma, started a pay-to-move program in 2020, offering $10,000 to movers — particularly those with remote high-paying tech jobs — who stay for at least a year.
Earlier this year, the WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research released a study that found the program generated $4 in economic activity for every $1 spent. Attracting talent costs less and is more effective than trying to attract new employers with tax abatements or other perks, the study found.
The researchers cautioned, however, that Tulsa had established itself as a tech hub and it is unclear whether the results could be replicated.
Michigan could use the help.
The state lost a congressional seat following the 2020 census because its growth was so anemic. U-Haul said last year its one-way rentals data put Michigan 43rd for growth among the 50 states, with more outbound rentals than inbound. More adults are deciding not to have children than in the past.
Still, southwest Michigan, lying along the state’s border with Indiana, has some things going for it.
As of 2022, nearly 9,000 people across Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties had moved there from another state or country, mostly from Indiana, according to the latest US Census data tracking interstate movement.
That equaled more than 3% of those counties’ population, compared to less than 2% of the state’s population coming from another state.
McFadden said officials hope the program can last long-term. Discover Southwest Michigan is its own nonprofit, and leadership already is looking at fundraising to help the program last beyond the yearlong state pilot period.
“Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties have been losing population since the mid-90s, and we’re really starting to feel the impacts of that in our community,” McFadden said. “You see the lower tax base. We have an aging population, and so obviously having the social supports to be able to care for that population is extremely important. So, as long as this is a need in southwest Michigan, we intend to be able to continue this.”
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