One of the major business trends accelerated by COVID-19 was remote work. Between 2020 to today, the number of full-time remote workers in the U.S. grew from 5 million to more than 16 million. As remote work gives employees the flexibility to work virtually from virtually anywhere, the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership’s Remote Worker Initiative strives to bring these high-earning, educated employees to the region. Through programs promoting and incentivizing the communities of South Bend, Elkhart, and Culver, more than 35 new households have relocated to the area. For every dollar invested into these initiatives, more than $8 is generated in new economic impact.

Meet one of our region’s newest residents: Gabrielle Tarlano

Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Gabrielle and her fiancé moved to Elkhart, when his Elkhart-based employer, Big Dog Adhesives, promoted him from a remote sales position to an onsite operations position.

“I work remotely with PNC Bank so that allowed me to also come along,” she said. “Someone had mentioned to me somewhere along the way that there was a program where you could get some reimbursement and that would also connect you to the community for different cities. I got online and looked to see if that was an opportunity for the area and it was, so here we are.”

Gabrielle appreciated the hands-on guidance of the Make My Move application process. South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership Manager of Talent Initiatives Lauren Thomas communicated with her throughout the process, offering advice and information along the way.

“Moving somewhere new is always going to be something unfamiliar and kind of a scary process,” she said. “I think just having that welcoming committee from Lauren and some of the other people within the area to kind of give us those resources to see other groups that we could connect with or restaurants or just anything within the area was really helpful.”

As a Midwest native, Gabrielle was prepared for the distinct seasons, but was surprised by the amount of snow!

“I was very surprised,” she said. “I think up here we do get more snow than in Ohio, like the fact that it snowed like five or so inches on Halloween this past year was a big surprise!”