What happens when our community’s assets lie hidden? Couple statements from The Graying of Wealth by Forbes with a premise described in The Invisible Years in Psychology Today, and sobering conclusions arise.

• The overall spending power of seniors is increasing.

• Seniors remain unnoticed and undervalued by society.

• Many seniors enter their still-productive years with less opportunity than ever before.

Blue Springs is blessed with a robust senior community, but is it under-utilized? Are we ignoring potential from a very real segment of our population? Mayor Ross initiated a continuing agenda in 2015, one including seven areas of focus. Within his plan, opportunities for service abound: adopting a street, VIPs in police service, assisting at Vesper Hall, coaching youth are among those offered. These are all worthy endeavors, but some are not as attractive to individual seniors. Some are not part of a group who collaborate to adopt a street. Some seniors were never formerly involved in sports. Further, many seniors want to supplement their savings with an eye toward declining years ahead.

Consider other options. When your business needs to hire help, solicit an employee from the population who knows what it means to work for a living—the baby boomers. When you need a service, consider bringing in a senior who can work as a private contractor. When you want to encourage community participation in a sales event, bring in a senior to mobilize a gray brigade for disseminating the information. Seniors who don’t need vacation pay, medical benefits or other expensive parts of the payroll spreadsheet are perfect additions to your company.

A recent AGHE (Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education) reminds us that September has been designated as an “Intergenerational Month” in which we feature the blending of the old with the young. They actively support leaders and entrepreneurs to support a “global longevity economy.” Let me translate that for you: look to the gray heads for help in getting past the losses incurred by the pandemic. Look to the gray heads for help in promoting your business. Don’t look at the gray heads as potential train wrecks of encroaching dementia—many are able to hold vital roles and bring much needed experience to the table.

Rather than looking at the gray tsunami as a cause for concern, we can shift our attitude to one of expectancy. We can make Blue Springs more age-inclusive and begin to actively include our seniors in city planning, job recruitment, procurable services and think tanks. It requires some flexibility, but it's well worth investing in the experienced hands of our seniors. Learn to actually see the seniors and make them part of the solution when problems arise.