The New Aging Enterprise - aarp

“Too Boutique.” True, the Center for Healthy Aging has not been replicated and
naturally occurring retirement communities like Beacon Hill Village tend to flourish only in
limited environments. However, Elderhostel has become the largest education-travel program in
the world, Curves is one of the most successful franchises of all time, and the Vanguard family
of funds is number two in size in the world. These are hardly “boutique” programs.
“Founder’s Syndrome.” Can New Aging Enterprises outlive their founders? In some
cases, the answer is clearly yes. Elderhostel survived the voluntary departure of founder Marty
Knowlton, Vanguard continues to prosper without John Bogle at the helm, and Experience Corps
was intentionally spun off after its creation by Marc Freedman. These charismatic leaders
stepped aside, and their legacies continue. Other founders are still intimately involved in
leadership of their organizations: John Erickson, Bill Thomas at Eden, Tim Driver at
RetirementJobs, and Gary Heaven at Curves. The jury is still out on whether these New Aging
Enterprises will survive or whether they will be victims of “founder’s syndrome.”
“Just the Private Sector.” The aging of Boomers has unleashed a torrent of
publications promising guidance on “turning silver into gold” 116 and marketing to older people.
Isn’t the New Aging Enterprise just one more contribution to merchandising later life? This
critical point raises a question: Must the success stories profiled here remain in the private sector
alone, whether profit or nonprofit? Alternatively, how can the lessons of New Aging Enterprises
be incorporated into public policy aimed on senior housing, health promotion, long-term care,
saving for retirement, and all the rest?
The argument advanced here is that we should not turn over these tasks to “privatization”
but instead should learn from, and apply, lessons exemplified by New Aging Enterprises. Just as
Federal Express offers lessons for the public postal system, or private universities have lessons
for public ones, so New Aging Enterprises can be a seedbed for new policies that help public
institutions respond imaginatively to population aging, just as the Swedish welfare state has done
with its new pension system. Public versus private is a false choice here. There is no reason
why public policy in the USA could not adopt features of the Swedish approach, if the political
will is there. Similarly, there is no reason why lessons from Elderhostel for late-life learning or
from Curves for exercise and weight loss could not be adopted by public policy. Private
initiative, whether in business or volunteer form, can show the way. Public policy demands a
political response to these opportunities.
It is not impossible to imagine a world where community colleges make low-cost, latelife
learning more widely available, where the public aging network is a leader in health
promotion, and where government funding supports humane choices in long-term care. There
are steps already underway in these directions. In short, public versus private here is a false
choice. What we face is the challenge of making all organizations more efficient, effective, and
sustainable, as the New Aging Enterprises have demonstrated. The choice is ours.
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