By Jill Yesko, University Relations
As Baby Boomers age, North Carolina businesses need to prepare for the magnitude of new business opportunities they will bring.
The message that businesses large and small must respond to the best educated and most consumer savvy generation of middle-aged and older customers the country has ever known will be discussed in a lecture Monday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m. in the Claxton Room, Elliott University Center, at UNCG. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Speakers will be Dennis Streets, Director of the North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Janice Wassel, director of the Gerontology Program and co-director of the dual degree MS in gerontology/MBA at UNCG. The event will be sponsored by the Gerontology Program.
“In 2005, North Carolina gained over $1.1 billion in income generated by residents sixty and over,” said Wassel. “This aging population can have a very positive impact for North Carolina businesses who are attentive to the changes that are occurring and willing to adjust to the preferences these older adults bring.”
“Silver industries” are businesses ranging from consumer products to financial services that target the specific needs of older adults. Wassel said that with growing number of retirees re-locating to North Carolina as well as residents over 60 who will retire in-state, North Carolina could be poised to capture a huge share of the national silver market.
“North Carolina is a great place to be an entrepreneur with an interest in aging,” added Wassel.
For additional information contact the UNCG Gerontology Program at (336) 256-1020, or www.uncg.edu/gro/news.html.
