Cookeville-Putnam County Earns AARC Seal of Approval
The American Association of Retirement Communities (AARC) believes “Putnam County met the criteria with flying colors to become a certified retiree destination,” said Wade Adler, Chairman of the Board of AARC, which bases the designation on a community's attractiveness to retirees and its efforts to market itself to the age 50-plus demographic. Criteria for selection include: A nearby hospital and adequate medical services Adequate supply of resale and rental housing Adult education opportunities Adequate shopping, restaurants and pharmacies to serve the area Recreational opportunities such as golf, walking trails and fitness centers Cultural opportunities such as theatres, art galleries and recitals Low crime rate Civic and community pride City endorsement of retirement recruitment effort An official sponsoring organization with a retirement program director, retiree participation, a marketing plan and brochure, a toll-free number and attendance at the annual AARC conference “The Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce already has an aggressive retirement program and committee working to attract active retirees to "This is a wonderful community, and they're finding us," said Ellene Duncan, the Chamber's senior vice president. "We spend a lot of time attracting active retirees who desire to give back to the community. For fiscal year 2008, we received 7,200 requests for retirement information." She noted that the Chamber's long-range marketing plan especially targets retirees from Florida, New York and California, the three states from which the Chamber receives the greatest number of retirement information requests. For more information about what the Chamber is doing to attract people and businesses to the
