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Baby Boomers seeking to reinvent their lives are flocking to innovative cities such as Charleston, S.C., Ashland, Ore., and Santa Fe, N.M. But there’s no reason Des Moines couldn’t become just as hot a destination, according to Mary Furlong, one of the country’s leading experts on the Boomer generation.

Furlong, author of “Turning Silver Into Gold: How to Profit in the New Boomer Marketplace,” and a longtime marketing strategist and consultant, works with companies to understand the needs of the Baby Boomer market as it ages. Over the past 20 years, she has helped start-up companies raise more than $120 million in venture capital through two nonprofit organizations she founded, SeniorNet and Third Age Media.

During the Iowa Silver Economy Leadership Summit held earlier this month in Des Moines, about 150 business and community leaders heard Furlong’s views on how the state could benefit from an aging Boomer generation that would rather keep working than retire. They also heard from Gov. Chet Culver and a panel of business executives moderated by Holmes Murphy & Associates Chairman Doug Reichardt. The event was hosted by Wisdom Worker Solutions, a newly formed division of Employee & Family Resources Inc. (See sidebar below.)

“Boomers all over the country have reached that aha moment,” Furlong said, “realizing they’re not headed for a traditional retirement with a pension or Social Security benefits. Now, I live in the heart of Silicon Valley, and venture capitalists are looking to invest in longevity.” Among the industries riding the wave are senior caregivers, fitness equipment manufacturers, strength training coaches and remodeling services for seniors’ homes, to name a few. “I think Iowa could be a test bed for caregivers that want to try out technology for Boomers,” she said.

At the same time, Boomers in New York, California and Florida are cashing out of their houses and looking for places where they can form communities of like-minded individuals, Furlong said, “and Iowa can cash in on this. This is creating new opportunities for travel businesses, travel clubs and adventure-vacation businesses.”

In short, “Why not come up with a silver economy plan first, and announce it in Iowa?” she said.

Opportunities also exist for Iowa’s colleges and community colleges to serve as a resource for Boomers to retool and begin new careers as entrepreneurs. “Of 1,200 entrepreneurship programs in the country, there are very few for seniors,” she said. “Make that one of your themes.”

Working with companies to recruit and retain the Boomer generation is one of several strategies the state is taking to address a looming worker shortage, Culver said. Within the next four years, the gap between the number of open positions and available workers is expected to exceed 150,000 people. By 2030, the state’s working-age population is expected to decrease by 200,000.

“This group (of older workers) is already here in the state,” he said at the conference. “It’s just a matter of transitioning them into the future.” Among the strengths the state has in carrying this out are departments of workforce development and economic development that are working together, “which hasn’t always been the case,” Culver said. “But the people in this room are the ones who are really going to make it work. I’m really just blown away by the talented individuals who have stepped up to the task.”

On the panel, which was followed by small-group working sessions, were Dave Vellinga, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines; Larry Zimpleman, president of Principal Financial Group Inc.; Fred Buie, president and owner of Keystone Electrical Manufacturing Co.; Martha Willits, president and CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership; and Paul Hedquist, CEO of Employee & Family Resources Inc.

“In Greater Des Moines,” Willits said, “we expect a 60,000-worker shortage (as part of the anticipated worker shortage of 150,000 to 200,000 statewide). Our pipeline of workers is shrinking dramatically.”

After years of growth at the expense of the state’s rural areas, “we have got to get better about employing the underemployed, as well as populations such as ex-convicts,” she said.

According to Wisdom Worker Solutions, nearly two-thirds of Boomers plan to continue working past traditional retirement age, but more than half of those said they would want more flexible working arrangements from their employers.

The issue of providing greater flexibility to retain older workers is one that Mercy has begun to address, Vellinga said. “What can we offer to Boomers (to allow them to work part-time but also keep their employment benefits)? Mercy formed a committee last year to address that.”

Zimpleman said he’s seeing more employees at Principal working part time or who otherwise work in nontraditional ways.

“When I talk with Principal employees who are (working from Florida), I don’t wonder where they’re at, and frankly, I don’t care,” he said. “I have no concern that somebody working from Fort Myers is going to be cheating me of time. I think it’s a good thing, and we’re going to be seeing more of it.”

As a small manufacturer, Buie said his company benefits from older workers’ willingness to work.

“We are amazed at the lack of interest in people working in a blue-collar manufacturing environment, and a lack of willingness to come to work every day and do their job,” he said. “That was what has attracted us to a more mature work force. Our business grew by 25 percent last year, but our work force only grew by 10 percent. So we are always looking for ways to increase productivity, and to help that older work force that is looking for that second career. We’ve found we have to change the jobs (to accommodate) older workers, and I haven’t heard any complaints because of that.”

Buie said business-friendly legislation can go a long way in helping businesses recruit and retain workers. For instance, the S-corporation tax credit passed several years ago “was a huge deal for us, and allowed me personally to be able to put some money back into the business,” he said.

His company’s relationship with Iowa State University has also helped him fill some of its professional positions, he said. “For most students we run into, staying in Iowa isn’t a problem that a little more money can’t fix,” he said. “We have to be competitive that way.”

Principal generally has about 300 job openings at any one time, Zimpleman said, and those positions call for much higher skills than in the past. “I think there’s a need to have a closer partnership with the community colleges and the colleges,” he said. “I don’t think college curriculums have adapted very much from the time I graduated in 1973. I think much of that is because we haven’t reached out in a partnership with education.”

From Principal’s perspective as a retirement planning specialist, Zimpleman noted that by 2030, people will have to plan to accumulate 76 percent of their retirement income on their own, and of that, about half will come from working during “retirement.”

“Part of that will be because they want to,” he said, “but for others it will be because they didn’t plan enough for retirement. It really all comes down to planning and energizing the work force.”