For Immediate Release:
January 30, 2007

Contact:
Nanci Gonder
Office of Public Information
573-751-6062

Competition Kicks Off for Best Older Worker of 2007

The state competition is on for the best older worker of 2007. Now in its 17th year, Missouri’s annual Older Worker of the Year contest seeks to crown a Missouri resident who is 55 years of age or older, employed at a Missouri job at least 20 hours a week, and displays dependability, loyalty, new skills and self-motivation on the job. The winner and regional finalists will be recognized at a two-day awards ceremony with dignitaries in Jefferson City in April or May.

Frances Trentham, 69, also known as the “ little red tornado” because she gets by on four hours of sleep a night and walks faster than she drives, took the prize as 2006’s Older Worker of the Year. An assistant to the dean of students at Crowder College, she won the annual contest because of her loyalty and creativity on the job, and because she is forcing us to rethink what retirement means. She will earn her General Studies degree from Crowder College this year—and works more than 40 hours per week there. “I put my husband and three sons through school, so I figured it was my turn,” says Trentham, who began her career at the college at 55, a time when many dream of retiring.

Nomination forms for 2007’s Older Worker of the Year are available on the Department of Health and Senior Services’ Web site, http://www.dhss.mo.gov. Completed nomination forms must be postmarked, faxed or e-mailed by March 14 to:  Missouri Outstanding Older Worker Contest, Division of Senior and Disability Services, P.O. Box 570, Jefferson City, MO  65102-0570, fax (573) 751- 8687, e-mail Sally.McKee@dhss.mo.gov. A nomination form must also include a narrative as to why the nominee should be selected Older Worker of the Year.

The annual Older Worker of the Year recognition is sponsored by the Missouri Senior Employment Coordinating Committee, consisting of the AARP Foundation; Experience Works; Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph; MERS/Missouri Goodwill Industries; Cardinal Ritter Senior Services; Department of Economic Development/Division of Workforce Development; and the Department of Health and Senior Services/Division of Senior and Disability Services.

For more information, please call 573-526-8534. The 17th Annual Missouri Older Worker 2007 Nomination Form is attached.