Average Age
The average age of 500 recent applicants for a Florida entrepreneurship program funded in part by the U.S. Labor Department was 51, said Michael O’Donnell, regional project manager for Startup Quest in Fort Lauderdale.
“People over 50 are seriously exploring startups as an option,” he said. “These are highly educated people that were laid off in the last downturn and realize those jobs are not coming back.”
Florida, a retirement destination, has been attracting older people who migrate to form businesses, said Andrew Duffell, chief executive officer of the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. The park includes a technology business incubator to assist startup companies, with “a good 30 percent” run by those over 50.
The incubator includes companies that develop software, manage logistics for transportation of products such as medical devices, and do advanced engineering.
The 55 and older Americans may have more confidence in their abilities than prior generations, demographers said.
More Educated
“Baby boomers are more educated and probably more entrepreneurial than earlier generations,” said William Frey, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution in Washington.
They are more likely to own their own homes and have some assets that can be used to finance businesses, said Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
Joseph Schmoke, 69, ran a for-profit college in Birmingham, Alabama, until 2010, and was dismayed that smaller colleges such as his were typically ignored by ratings services.