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Relocation platform Make My Move requests $3 million to fund community recruitment grants
Summary
Ben Lito of Make My Move asked the Committee on Appropriations for $3 million to the state treasurer’s office to fund community grants that would subsidize local recruitment efforts, describing an 80/20 grant split, a $250,000 state cap per program and performance-based tranches.
Ben Lito, vice president of enterprise sales for Make My Move, presented an informational briefing to the Committee on Appropriations and requested a $3,000,000 appropriation to the state treasurer’s office to create a community grant program that would subsidize targeted talent-recruitment efforts.
Lito said the program would award community grants to help smaller localities organize recruitment packages for people actively looking to relocate. He described Make My Move as an online marketplace that “enables communities to essentially productize their assets” and match “move-ready talent” with communities seeking workers.
Lito described prior results from other states: in Indiana the company’s grant-funded programs have recruited more than 780 households, with “the average salary of those jobs” reported in testimony as about $122,000. He said Kansas pilot activity already exists in Lincoln County, Neodesha, Reno and Hutchinson; he reported “a total of 11 families, to Kansas already,” representing about 23 new people in those markets.
On grant mechanics Lito told the committee the program would use an 80/20 split between state and community funding with a maximum state investment of $250,000 per community program. He explained the state’s 80% contribution would be paid in two tranches: roughly 40% up front after acceptance and the remaining state funding contingent on performance metrics.
Representatives asked about whether the listed $750,000 “community investment” in the pro forma was per community. Lito clarified that the $750,000 figure in the document was a statewide example and reiterated the $250,000 state cap per local program and the requirement that communities provide 20% of the program cost as local “skin in the game.”
Lito said Make My Move treats the initiative as economic development, arguing that recruited households often “bring a job with them” and generate local consumer spending and school enrollment impacts. He said the company typically works with mayors, chambers, economic development organizations and local “champions” to organize community offerings, which can include in-kind items such as local welcome experiences.
The presentation was informational; committee members asked technical and implementation questions but took no formal action toward an appropriation during the hearing.
