With unemployment figures on the rise and the economic recession wreaking havoc on retirement accounts, the Plus 50 Initiative at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is spearheading a movement by community colleges to help workers age 50 and over train for new jobs and sharpen their marketable skills.

The Plus 50 Initiative is a three-year program to help community colleges engage 50+ learners in learning, civic engagement, and training and retraining. Reflecting changing economic circumstances for many older workers who thought they were poised for retirement but now must remain on the job, the new expansion focuses specifically on the initiative’s training, retraining and career development area. The expansion pairs existing and more experienced Plus 50 colleges with dozens more community colleges that now become “affiliates” of the Plus 50 Initiative.

“The expansion of the Plus 50 Initiative will empower many more community colleges to offer targeted training programs that help baby boomers develop marketable skills and jumpstart stalled careers,” said George R. Boggs, AACC President and CEO. “As institutions that respond to public needs, community colleges are on the front line helping communities and workers re-tool in a tumultuous economy.”

The help can’t arrive soon enough. Baby boomers may face the steepest odds of any unemployed workers in the job market, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2008, laid-off workers over age 50 were out of work for 22.2 weeks, compared with 16.2 weeks for younger workers. When they land jobs, baby boomers typically experience a more significant drop in earnings than their younger counterparts.

Century College will be a Learning Partner for nine Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., community colleges. Century will host a regional meeting for Anoka-Ramsey Community