HERMITAGE, Pa. – Nearly 700 people from across the country have applied to move to Mercer County since March.
Three families have relocated to the county so far.
The new residents and wanna-be newcomers expressed their interest through Penn-Northwest Development Corporation’s participation in Make My Move. That company markets communities to entice residents of other locales to relocate. It targets remote workers and offers relocation incentives.
“Our goal was to advertise Mercer County to remote workers who would bring a job with them and move into our county and add some revenue to our area,” said Jake Rickert, Penn-Northwest associate director.
The program started in March and as of a few days ago, 694 people had applied. That exceeded the organization’s expectations.
“We were really hoping to get about five, so over 600 is a good number to have,” Rickert said.
Penn-Northwest launched it as a pilot program with a goal of bringing five families to the community.
“We’ve got three here, but we obviously have plenty in the pipeline,” the associate director said. “We’re going to hit our five pretty quickly. The biggest hang up, it’s not a lack of applicants. It’s a lack of quality housing available for them to move into.”
Applicants live across the U.S.
“Our top five locations are the east side of Pennsylvania, New York, Florida, Texas and New Jersey,” Rickert said.
The agency is looking for prospective families who earn more than the average income for the region. They also must live at least 100 miles from Mercer County.
Mark Longietti, Hermitage’s business and community development director, said Make My Move developed a creative way to market to people and has a proven track record, Longietti said.
A family moved to the city in June, an individual relocated there last month and another is expected to move there in September.
“It is working,” he said.
Slightly fewer than 17,000 people live in the city, but it’s the fourth-largest land city in the commonwealth with more than 30 square miles.
The city wants to grow, the business and community development director said.
“We want to grow as a community and we’re looking to attract folks to Hermitage, particularly people that are in the workforce,” Longietti said.
And he believes Mercer County has a lot to offer.
“There are many remote workers in different parts of the country that are looking to come to a community like Hermitage, where you have an excellent quality of life, where the cost of living is less, where they can afford a nice home and a property and raise their children and contribute to the local economy,” he said.
MakeMyMove handles marketing and background checks and income verification to ensure prospective residents meet criteria.
Rickert added that Mercer County is the first Pennsylvania community to join MakeMyMove. The company’s website lists 108 participating communities, many in Indiana and Kentucky.
In an article this week about MakeMyMove, Forbes magazine listed Hermitage as one of the participating communities.
Hermitage and Sharon offer relocation packages of $7,400 and $6,900, respectively, including a $5,000 cash incentive and six months of co-working space at LindenPointe in each community. Greenville’s package totals $1,900. All of the packages include gift cards or memberships at area clubs and organizations.
Rickert said the program has helped by highlighting Mercer County’s assets to a wider audience. But it also helps to have documentation to show potential housing developers that people want to move to the region and buy homes, he said.