Topeka, Kansas, wants people to move there, so it’s been giving tax breaks and other economic benefits to get new people to move there, including Latino and immigrant families.
Choose Topeka is a reward program that lets people like Erick Bovell get up to $15,000 if they rent or buy a home in the city and work for a local business that partners with the program and makes at least $50,000 a year. Those who want to apply must have permission to work in the U.S., which means that undocumented immigrants cannot get the rewards.
Bovell, who moved to Topeka from Venezuela two years ago, said that the city gave him a $10,000 bonus after they saw proof that he had bought a house. Sean Dixon, president of Visit Topeka, said that the program is paid for by both the city and the companies that take part. Many of the businesses are looking for Hispanic workers. “I enjoy city life. “There is no traffic in the city, so it is very quiet,” Bovell told Noticias Telemundo in Spanish.
Bovell, who moved to Topeka from Venezuela two years ago, said that the city gave him a $10,000 bonus after they saw proof that he had bought a house. Sean Dixon, president of Visit Topeka, said that the program is paid for by both the city and the companies that take part. Many of the businesses are looking for Hispanic workers. “I enjoy city life. “There is no traffic in the city, so it is very quiet,” Bovell told Noticias Telemundo in Spanish.
The 2019 start of the Choose Topeka program was meant to help businesses and boost the economy. “We are a city that depends on immigrant labor, Hispanic or Latino labor,” Ernesto de la Rosa, Topeka’s top diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, told Noticias Telemundo in Spanish.
NBC station KSNT reported in February that the program had helped bring almost 100 people and families to Topeka. It was recently made bigger to help soldiers, recent Washburn University graduates, and “boomerang” residents who want to move back to the city.
The city also has an incentive program for people who want to start or grow a small business. This program gives funds to business owners and new businesses to help them make more money, stay in business, or expand into new markets. Israel Sanchez, who is in charge of equity and business development for GO Topeka, said that funds can sometimes cover up to half of the costs of starting a new business.
The number of people living in Shawnee County, which includes Topeka, grew by 2,265 between 2021 and 2022. This was the biggest and fastest growth in Topeka’s population in ten years.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county’s people are younger and come from a wider range of backgrounds. The number of people who were not white in the county increased by almost 7%, mostly Hispanic and mixed-race people. At the same time, the median age dropped by almost two years, to about 38.
With about 20,000 people, Hispanics are the second most common racial or ethnic group in Topeka. The city of Topeka says that there are about 127,000 people living there.
Leave a Reply