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Program offers incentives for moving to smaller US cities and towns
Berrien County — in southwest Michigan — is one of the places listed on Make My Move.
FOX 2 - These days it seems like a number of companies are offering incentives to hire new people. But, it’s not just businesses — towns are too.
"Make My Move" is a marketplace, where smaller US cities and towns offer cash and incentives to get people to relocate.
FOX 2: "Any amount of money that would get you to move to a smaller town?"
"Yes. I’m a widower — 75 years old," said Richard Brown of Southfield. "If the money is right, the figure sounds good. I’m gone. I’m going somewhere where it’s nice and warm all the time."
"I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life so I kind of wouldn’t mind branching out to somewhere else," said Jada Hubble of Southfield. "I feel like it would be interesting."
Berrien County — in southwest Michigan — is one of the places listed on Make My Move.
Cornerstone Alliance sponsors the "Move to Michigan" program — which offers up to $15,000 in incentives.
Richard Coleman, the president and CEO of Cornerstone Alliance, spoke about the program.
"We’ve dramatically raised the profile of our community. We’ve had over seven million social media impressions," he said. "Today, we’ve had four families move to the community. We have offers out to many more."
The program is only open to out-of-staters - sorry, folks in Metro Detroit. But we asked a realtor if a similar program could work on our side of the state.
FOX 2: "We see it work in Berrien County. Could it work in Oakland County, Wayne County, Washtenaw County, any of those rural areas?"
"I don’t know how it would work," said Paul Wolfert, Century 21 Row realtor. "It may work in some of those rural areas, but you have to find that price point."
Here’s the thing — Paul Wolfert says the migration to Michigan is already happening.
"I started my YouTube channel thinking I was going to work with people primarily inside the state of Michigan," he said. "And I was overwhelmed with the amount of people who are moving from big cities in other states like California, Texas, Arizona, New York. All are moving to Michigan."
That’s a blessing and a curse. It’s increasing Michigan’s population and property values, while also driving up offers for homes.
To learn more go to makemymove.com