The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has announced Retire Tennessee, a pilot program that will promote Tennessee as a great place for retirees to call home. A total of 10 Tennessee communities have been selected to participate in the pilot program: Cumberland, Decatur, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Henry, Lawrence, Marshall, Putnam and Sullivan Counties.
Retiree Recruitment has been an optional component of the new Three-Star program for the last two years and many communities are finding that they have something unique to offer this growing segment of our population, said ECD Commissioner Matthew Kisber. Tennessee has become increasingly attractive to today’s migrating retirees. We fully recognize this as a viable industry and we are now working to implement programs that would establish retirement migration as an economic development strategy.
With 14 percent of Tennessee’s population 65 years or older and with that percentage expected to rise drastically in the coming years, attracting and relocating retirees provides communities an opportunity to strengthen and diversify its economy while at the same time becoming enriched with skills and experience.
Retirement recruitment is an established industry. Many states are trying to establish a retirement relocation industry by enhancing their positions as destination states. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development recently announced that Tennessee is now ranked 11th in the nation as a tourism attraction.
It represents a growing market. As a nation, we are growing older. The percentage of citizens age 65 and over continues to climb annually. The first of the 78 million Baby Boomers turned 60 this year, and as this group continues to age, so should the demand for retirement destinations.Theres tremendous economic impact potential. Retirement migration has a dramatic impact on local economies. Retirees bring new wealth to the state, their spending habits create jobs and opportunities and the taxes they pay far exceed the cost of providing services for them.
Theres relatively low risk and low investment. Retiree recruitment efforts almost always lead to increases in tourism. So in terms of state participation, there is little risk that Tennessee would not derive some benefit from a state-supported retiree relocation program.
More details on the Retire Tennessee pilot program are forthcoming with an official launch to be unveiled at a later date. For more information, contact Ramay Winchester at (731) 423-5771 or via e-mail at ramay.w.winchester@state.tn.us .

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