movetomichigan

Cornerstone Alliance Accepts 20 New Families in “Move to Michigan” Campaign

movetomichigan

Back in late October, Cornerstone Alliance took a look at what the pandemic was doing in the realm of “work from home” opportunities and suggested that the pandemic had “made it even more clear that Southwest Michigan is the place to be.” As a result, the economic development organization announced the launch of a full-tilt incentive campaign called “Move to Michigan,” targeting remote workers in a bid to get them to relocate to Michigan’s Great Southwest and become full-time residents.

Even they were blown away by the resulting response over the last five to six weeks, with more than 300 applications received in the first round offer.

Pointing to mortgage rates that were continuing to hit historic lows that drove consumers to increasingly consider the purchase of condos and homes in light of the dramatic increase in time spent both working and studying from home, Cornerstone Alliance and a number of their partners assembled a menu of more than $15,000 in incentives for those who would be willing to buy a home in Southwest Michigan, where they can still “work” in Chicago while enjoying a short commute from the sandy beaches and fresh air along the shores of Lake Michigan on this side of the big lake.

Just in time for the holidays, Cornerstone Alliance has announced more than 20 families have been accepted to the program and are planning to make the move to Michigan. Including Jill, the first grant recipient of the program, who is shown in the video below.

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Cornerstone Alliance Vice-President of External Affairs Christina Frank says, “We are blown away with the results of the Move to Michigan program and excited to welcome these 20 families to Southwest Michigan.” She points out, “Not only will these new residents support our local businesses including restaurants, shops and lawn care services through their spending, but we have already received questions about how they can get involved in our community, which tells us that the program will benefit the region both socially and economically.”

When the program was first offered, Cornerstone Alliance President Rob Cleveland said, “We put significant resources into recruiting new companies. We always have and we will continue to do that. However, we also have to recognize that our world has changed. You can work from anywhere, and we were starting to see that change even before the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic simply intensified that shift.”

With twenty new families accepted into the program and ready to take up full-time residence in Michigan’s Great Southwest, Cornerstone says that the resulting economic impact in the first year of residence alone, shows those families projected to drive more than $1.38 million dollars in new spending to the region.

The Move to Michigan program is part of a larger community initiative to continually drive economic growth within the region. In all, the investment Cornerstone Alliance made in its Move to Michigan campaign delivered a 311-percent return on investment and has seen similar programs roll out across Michigan.

Click the video below to see the first grant recipient presentation earlier this month in the Windy City: