CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s capital city has been selected as the sixth location for the remote work program, Ascend West Virginia.
Ascend WV was founded by Marshall University President Brad Smith and his wife Alys Smith in October 2021 within West Virginia University Outdoor Economic Collaborative. The program aims to attract those outside of the state to live and work in West Virginia.
“This is such an amazing day for Charleston, West Virginia,” Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said Friday. “To be a part of the Ascend program is truly monumental. Momentum matters.”
The program offers north of $20,000 in incentives, including $12,000 cash relocation incentive, which paid in installments over a two-year period. Applicants that are selected to be a part of an Ascend class also receive two full years of free outdoor recreation to truly experience what the Mountain State has to offer.
“The thing that I loved about this program is it’s not just about the job; it’s about your life. It’s making sure you have the connections to the spaces and places in which you’re going to live, work and play. That’s why the Ascend program is so unique and different,” Goodwin said.
“I want my kids and your kids to have connections when they move to the City of Charleston, and this Ascend program is going to help us do that,” she added.
According to Smith, Ascend has seen over 65,000 applicants since the program’s inception. Nearly 1,000 people are now new West Virginians that live and work in one of the five other areas partnered with the program. 36 percent of the residents selected over the past five years have purchased a home in the state.
“It’s hard to say that this hasn’t exceeded all expectations,” said Smith. “Given the fact that I lived here, then lived elsewhere 36 years and my heart never left, I was not surprised when people who were given the option to choose West Virginia would want to move here,” Smith said.
A number of applicants are West Virginia natives whose jobs moved them to another part of the country. Smith, the Kenova native and former Intuit CEO, says he knows what it’s like to move away for work but come back home.
“Many of us from the decades ago didn’t have a choice. We graduated and we knew we wanted a job in a certain field, and those jobs weren’t here, so we had to leave. It wasn’t by choice, it was by need,” Smith said.
“Those things are changing now, whether it’s remote work or the new jobs that are getting created here in West Virginia or companies moving in. Now, we give our youth the opportunity to say, ‘I can stay where I want to live work and play with my family, and I can do any job I want. That’s what is special.”
In 2021, Charleston created the “Roots” initiative, which Goodwin said was similar to and based off of Ascend. The initiative tried to attract those looking to build roots or get back to their roots in Charleston and offered a financial contribution and a focus on opportunities outside of work.
Goodwin says Smith helped Charleston bridge the gap to today.
“When Alys and Brad (Smith) put this program together, he said, ‘Do something right now. Just start something. You don’t have all the money, you don’t have all the resources, but the idea is there. Just do it,” Goodwin recalled. “That’s why we started the “Roots” program. In hopes that if we do the pilot program, it will turn into something bigger, and that’s exactly what happened.
Other areas in West Virginia that are a part of the Ascend program include Morgantown, the eastern panhandle, the greater Elkins area, New River Gorge, and the Greenbrier Valley.