Portland, Oregon - Age-Friendly Business and Employer Awards

Portland, Oregon – Age-Friendly Business and Employer Awards

Status: Completed

Evaluated

Portland United States of America

Print this page City population: 60310616% over 60Practice started in 2018

Summary

The Age-Friendly Portland and Multnomah County Economic Development and Employment Committee created the age-friendly business and age-smart employer awards. The age-friendly employer awards were adapted from a program instituted in New York City. Portland businesses, nonprofits and government agencies were eligible to apply for either or both awards in one of three categories based on business size as determined by number of employees. The Age-Smart Employer Award recognizes employers that have policies and practices that benefit workers of all ages, and the Age-Friendly Business Award celebrates businesses that serve people of all ages well.

More than 100 Portlanders joined Mayor Ted Wheeler, Commissioner Nick Fish, Elders in Action, Venture Portland, and the Age-Friendly Portland and Multnomah County Advisory Council to present the inaugural Age-Friendly Business Awards to 11 Portland businesses in a City Hall awards ceremony. The ceremony was followed by Mayor Wheeler proclaiming October 31st “Age-Friendly Business Day.”

Website: http://agefriendlyportland.org/resources/in-the-news

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Other target group(s): Intergenerational; businesses; employers

Sector(s): Labor

Other sector(s): Businesses and employers

Desired outcome for older people:
Contribute

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:

Ageism
Inequities
Inclusion

Contact details

Name: Margaret Neal

Email address: nealm@pdx.edu

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Civil Society Organisation

Others involved in the project:

Local authorities
Older People’s Association
Social or health care provider
Volunteers
Private sector
Research institution

How collaboration worked: All parties worked together, via our committee of volunteers, to develop the awards application process, determine the selection criteria, evaluate the applications, and plan and convene the awards ceremony. The primary organizations involved were Venture Portland, Elders in Action, and Portland State University. An elder who is a volunteer with the older adults organization Elders in Action created and made the awards themselves. Some funding was provided by AARP Oregon, the City of Portland, and other sponsors.

Older people’s involvement: Older people helped to implement the age-friendly practice

Details on older people’s involvement: An older man was the artist who created the physical awards, and an older adult participated in the application design and review process.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Please share with us what you found in detail:
We were not able to formally measure and evaluate impact, but the anecdotal feedback we received was very positive. Awareness of aging and older adult employment-related issues was raised, and ideas were gained by businesses and employers of ways in which they could become more age friendly.

Feedback:
City officials, businesses, employers,aging services organizations, and older adults themselves provided extremely positive feedback.

Expansion plans:
Our hope is to offer the awards again in 2021. Unfortunately, a key partner organization, Elders in Action, recently closed, and there was a change in leadership in the other key partner organization, Venture Portland, and the level of support for the program is unknown at this time.

Looking back

Reflections:
We would: (1) start earlier in the year advertising the awards and soliciting applicants: (2) obtain additional sponsors of the event; (3) hold educational events for businesses and employers about best practices; (4) create a best practices document to share the accomplishments of awardees; (5) take photos of all awardees; (6) have a better audio system.

Challenges:
The key challenges were obtaining sufficient applications (we made personal one-on-one calls to encourage some applicants) and funding (we obtained sponsorships, but would need more in the future to pay staff).