Colorado State’s Center on Aging Presents Conference About Aging Workforce Issues

Colorado State University Extension, the College of Applied Human Sciences’ Center on Aging, and the Gerontology Program of the College of Natural and Health Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado are hosting the Rocky Mountain Conference on Aging.  The conference, "The Changing Workforce: Challenges and Strategies for Success," will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, at The Ranch in Loveland.

The conference will focus on the needs and interests of human resource professionals, employers, managers, educators, employment trainers, public policy makers, decision makers and older adults in the workforce. It is geared towards those in profit, non-profit or government organizations who face the challenges of an aging workforce.

The Rocky Mountain Conference on Aging will explore the challenges employers are facing as they try to recruit, retain and retrain older workers in a rapidly changing workforce.  The conference will also present specific strategies for a successful intergenerational workforce and how to best prepare for the changes in demographics and their effects on an increasingly diverse workforce.

The keynote speaker will be Mick Smyer, currently provost at Bucknell University and previous co-founder and co-director of the Center on Aging and Work at Boston College. Smyer will speak on "Promising Practices for Retaining Older Adult Workers in an Intergenerational Workforce." During the day, there will be various educational sessions that will range from accommodating personal and family issues, health care coverage for older workers, technology for an age appropriate workplace to the experience of being an older employee.  

The final presentation, "How to Do It: Strategies of Companies that Successfully Hired and Retained Older Workers," will be presented by Tim Wollerman, manager of Work and Career Issues at the American Association for Retired Persons. He will speak about the best practices of some of the nation’s top employers for employees over the age of 50.

Registration is available at the door.

The conference is sponsored by Colorado State University Extension, Colorado State University’s College of Applied Human Sciences’ Center on Aging, and the University of Northern Colorado’s College of Natural and Health Sciences’ Gerontology Program.

For more information and registration, visit www.larimer.org/ext or call Jacque Miller (970) 498-6000.

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