New Bern may soon become a certified retirement community, a designation that could draw more visitors and potential residents.
New Bern aldermen approved an application proposal Tuesday night that will be submitted by the New Bern Tourism Development Authority to the state for recognition of the city as a retirement community. The cost of the application, which is good for five years, is $15,000 and is being paid by CarolinaEast Health System, which is partnering with TDA. There is no cost to the city.
Andre Nabors, manager, partner relations of Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, and Sabrina Bengel, chairman of the TDA, spoke to about 45 people Wednesday morning at the New Bern Riverfront Convention Center about the N.C. Certified Retirement Community Program and its benefits for New Bern and surrounding communities.
When Bengel recently saw how the town of Edenton became a certified retirement community, she said her interest was piqued again.
“This is another step moving forward with economic development,” said Bengel, a downtown business owner, radio talk show host and former member of the Board of Aldermen.
The certification is a marketing tool that allows the city, county and communities to promote their attractions to people ages 55 and older. Nabors will present that information at consumer shows put on by the AARP and Ideal Living, in publications and on websites.
The certification also uses co-op marketing, magazines, visitor guides, consumer shows, social media like Facebook, and online marketing including the retirenc.com website.
“I know what marketing did for Weyerhaeuser and Carolina Colours,” Bengel said. “…The problem is in the last 10 years there has been no marketing going on and we need to fill that void.”
Bengel said she has heard from people who asked why New Bern would want to be known as a retirement community; many people thought it already was. But she said it would be a big benefit for the area.
“The dynamics of retirees has really changed,” she said.
Bengel and Nabors said more people are retiring in their 50s and bring valuable skills and insights to the communities they move to.
“Days of retirees sitting on the front porch are gone,” Nabors said. “Retirees now are very active.”
That activity could include riding bikes, exploring trails, volunteering and starting small businesses, he said.
Retirees usually visit a place five or six times before moving, Nabors said.
“They come and spend and bring their families,” he said. “The icing on the cake is when they come here to retire.”
The Certified Retirement Community started as a pilot program in Lumberton in 2008. Now there are 10 certified communities, Nabors said.
Annually, Nabors attends about five consumer shows, and receives about six inquires a week from retirees just from the Ideal Living consumer shows, he said.
A place like Myrtle Beach, S.C., spends about $45 million on marketing while North Carolina spends only $3 million, Nabors said. The TDA spends about $300,000 on marketing annually, Bengel said.
Yet North Carolina is the sixth most visited state in the country. By partnering with TDAs, the state is able to raise about $9 million for marketing, Nabors said.
Judy Avery, a TDA board member and marketing director for the Sun Journal, said in 2013 Craven County generated about $120.75 million from tourism, a 20 percent increase from 2012. There are also more than 1,000 jobs related to tourism and about $22 million in wages from tourism, she said.
Retirees’ buying power has a big economic impact on the county, but the biggest is 80 percent of them either buy or build a house when they move to New Bern, Avery said.
Avery said the Certified Retirement Committee that has been set up will use print and online marketing tools to promote the program, with a “Retire New Bern” magazine, with a 20,000 circulation annually and about 7,300 going to the visitors center, 5,000 to the state and 7,500 used locally.
The website will have a link that offers information and opportunities for local businesses and events to advertise, Avery said.
The city should learn in about 120 days if the state accepts it as a Certified Retirement Community.
Certified Retirement Communities in North Carolina
Asheboro
Eden
Edenton
Lumberton
Marion
Mount Airy
Pittsboro
Sanford and Lee County
Tarboro
Winterville
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