Remote work became a more important part of the economic landscape in 2020. In response, many state economic development organizations are considering the impact of remote work on existing incentive performance agreements and incentive policies going forward.
The Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness hosted a roundtable that brought together economic development leaders and other incentive stakeholders from across the country to share ideas on how states can adjust incentive program compliance procedures. Participants also discussed options for evolving incentive policies to attract remote workers and business prospects who are increasingly likely to incorporate remote work into their day-to-day operations.
Ken Poole, CREC CEO/President, set the stage by discussing CREC’s work with state economic development executives, the joint 2021 CREC-Smart Incentives guidance paper on Addressing Remote Work in State Business Incentive Programs, and the inaugural Incentive Compliance Workshop.
Smart Incentives founder Ellen Harpel suggested that states need to develop a remote work policy within their incentive programs. Remote/hybrid work is not expected to go away, and it will become an important part of company strategies to address their ongoing talent needs. She also described the ground rules and a checklist of key questions states should consider when developing their remote work policy. Her presentation is available for download here.
Jane Vancil, CEO of IncentiLock, provided a set of specific data options to help companies and state agencies figure out how remote work has affected compliance with the terms of incentive performance agreements. She explained that uncertainty exists on both sides. As companies scrambled to adjust to a new operating environment, their systems may not have kept pace to allow the desired level of reporting to state agencies. Jane’s slides can be viewed here.
We invite you to download the presentations and view the recording from the Roundtable. CREC, Smart Incentives and IncentiLock have agreed to share this information because we believe it is vital for economic development groups to have access to available guidance, data, and analytical tools in order to make the best decisions for their communities.
Recent Comments