PA Wilds Experiments with Ways to Attract, Keep Remote Workers

Do you know anyone interested in moving back to the PA Wilds?

PA Wilds Experiments with Ways to Attract, Keep Remote Workers

Because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, remote working has become a desire by many within or looking to enter the workforce.

A new program started by the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, entitled "The Wilds Are Working: A Remote Lifestyle Experience,"   seeks to capitalize on that desire by many workers, luring them to rural areas of Pennsylvania.

According to the PA Wilds Center, the Wilds Are Working campaign seeks to empower workers to try out living, working and giving in the PA Wilds communities for 2-4 weeks with the hope that some of those participants will decide to work in the region full-time.

Modeled after case studies emerging from across Appalachia and the nation, this program is one of many that rural communities are implementing to incentivize and stimulate revitalization. Building on the movement, the Rural Outdoor Investment (ROI) Act looks to allocate $50 million annually to fund infrastructure improvements and similar marketing campaigns to help towns across the country plan and build recreation-based economies. These so-called “Zoom towns” are popping up around the nation, with some communities providing workers with $10,000 to relocate there for one year.

One town participating in the PA Wilds Center program is McKean County’s Borough of Kane. Kane, a town of 3,500 on the edge of the Allegheny National Forest, and Bellefonte, a town of 6,276 about 10 miles north of Penn State, were chosen as the pilots for the program.

Kane is still accepting applications for its remote working residency, which will run from 

Sept. 14 to Oct. 14.