16,000 employees offered cash incentives to move to Detroit

Several Detroit businesses are paying their employees to move to the city as part of a new incentive program called "Live Downtown."

Employees can get $20,000 dollars toward the purchase of a new home. Those who rent will get up to $3,500 for two years. Even employees who already live in the city can get money to make home improvements.

Here's a list of the 5 companies behind the new "Live Downtown" program:

• Compuware
• DTE Energy
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
• Quicken Loans
• Strategic Staffing Solutions

Denise Starr is with Compuware. She says between the five companies, there are "about 16,000 employees, so if you’re able to even get 5% of that, that’s a significant number" of houses sold, rented or renovated.

“Live Downtown” is modeled after a similar program called "Live Midtown," which launched earlier this year for employees at Wayne State, Detroit Medical Center, and Henry Ford Health System.