TIGERS MAY TEACH JAYHAWKS: How to attract retirees

COLUMBIA, 11/12/11 (Beat Byte) -- "In Jayhawk country, it can be painful to admit that Columbia, Mo., has beaten us at anything. But when it comes to pitching its city to retirees, our rivals to the east beat us by nearly 20 years."

So begins Part 2 of a Lawrence Journal-World newspaper series about Jayhawk town's efforts to reach beyond college students to attract retirees. The series references a 1990's Columbia Chamber of Commerce effort called “2000 by 2000” to attract 2,000 more retirees to Columbia by the year 2000. 

 

"The chamber advertised in national publications and reached out to University of Missouri alumni, reminding them of the good times they had during their college days," the story notes. Chamber president Don Laird

The rest of the story compliments Columbia's efforts, interviews several Columbia-based experts on retirement and aging, and urges Lawrence, Ks. to emulate what worked in Tiger Town.  said the effort was a smashing success, attracting 2,600 retirees.

 

"The thing that worked well for us was getting national attention, getting ranked as a top place to retire," Laird said. "It’s all about visibility. Reaching out to alumni is also key to remind them of the positive experiences they had while going to college in Columbia."

Read the story here:
When it comes to attracting retirees, Lawrence could learn from Columbia

 

 

1 comment:

1. 
   AnonymousMarch 24, 2012 at 12:14 PM

   Who's been to more final 4's? Who's won the championship more times? The Jayhawks

   Reply