Boomers find new work
New resource pairs executive retirees with businesses in need
When he retired after a career of 33 years, Mark Savory wasn’t quite ready to completely leave the workforce.
But he wasn’t ready to take on another traditional full-time, permanent position either.
Savory, who worked in operations, management and construction for Nova Scotia Power and Emera, spent some time doing independent consulting before stumbling upon BoomersPlus.com, a Nova Scotia startup that pairs executive retirees with part-time or temporary work.
“It allows people who have a lot of experience and still want to work to match up with someone that needs some help,” said Savory, 59.
In 2014, Savory began working with the Discovery Centre as the organization made plans to move from its former Barrington Street location to its current 40,000-square-foot facility on Lower Water Street.
“It was a good match,” said
Savory, who helped with planning and designing the new hands-on science centre.
“You’re able to bring into play a lot of commercial experience, a lot of project management experience, a lot of construction experience, to an organization that didn’t have it,” he said. “And nobody should expect them to have it because that’s not what they were geared up for.”
The Discovery Centre is a charitable organization that aims to get more young people interested in science. At its new location since 2017, it’s the newest science centre in the country, according to its website.
The centre also holds a partnership with Emera. Specific, specialized service Dov Bercovici, president and CEO of the Discovery Centre, said working with Savory wasn’t his only time using BoomersPlus. com, but it was one of the more intense jobs the non-profit had advertised through the service.
He said the service does a search through a database of potential candidates, and businesses are provided with a match or a few matches based on their
provided criteria.
“The beauty of it is you’re getting somebody that you’re not training from the ground up,” said Bercovici.
“When we do the search and get someone like Mark Savory ... we needed someone who could literally hit the ground running.”
He said the new Discovery Centre is one of the only science centres built in the last few years around the world that was on time, on budget, and on mission, and he attributes much of the successful project to Savory.
“We learned from him and he learned from us,” he said.
It costs the centre a couple thousand dollars per search, said Bercovici, describing the price as an affordable option for a notfor-profit looking for specific, specialized experience that may be hard to come by.
Baby boomers — the generation born between 1946 and 1965 — can register for free.
BoomersPlus.com started in 2013, when founder Rick Emberley, who was in his 60s, found himself wondering what he would do after retirement.
According to the Business Development Bank of Canada, participation in the labour force by baby boomers has risen by nearly 15 per cent from 2001 to 2016: from 51.3 per cent to 65.8 per cent.
“The more people I talked to, the more I realized that this growing network could be of significant interest to employers,” said Emberley in a statement.
“Our team is working on solving one of Canada’s most pressing issues — how to connect the rapidly growing number of retiring, seasoned and professional boomers wanting to stay active, by matching them with employers looking to tap into this massive hidden talent pool.”
The company has expanded into New Brunswick and recently closed a strategic investment round with a total capital raise of more than $1 million.
BoomersPlus.com has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Education and Development to connect boomers to early stage businesses for them to advise and mentor.