Finalists Chosen for Age Smart Employer Awards

The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center today announced finalists for the 2015 Age Smart Employer Awards. The award, in its second year, recognizes New York City businesses and nonprofit organizations who use policies and practices that help to hire, retain, and engage four generations of workers.

The 11 finalists named today are based in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens and include:

Large Businesses (100+ employees)

• Amy’s Breads—a bread and pastry bakery, featuring three retail cafes and distribution to over 250 wholesale customers daily throughout New York City
• Brooks Brothers, LIC Factory—the facility that manufactures the neckties and bowties—1.5 million ties a year—for this world-renown oldest clothing retailer in the U.S.
• CBRE—the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment company
• North Bronx Healthcare Network—serves the Bronx Community by providing high-quality healthcare, regardless of ability to pay, through the Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital
• NYU Langone Medical Center—one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, with a trifold mission to serve, teach and discover
• Sunnyside Community Services—a community-based organization in western Queens that provides a continuum of care to over 14,000 individuals of all ages annually

Small Businesses (less than 100 employees)

• Ben’s Best Kosher Delicatessen—a restaurant and catering business in Rego Park, Queens
• Eneslow Pedorthic Enterprises—a footwear store specializing in readymade and custom-made footwear and related products to reduce foot pain and improve balance and gait
• Indiana Market & Catering—a high–end special events catering company
• Metro Optics Eyewear—an ophthalmic services company with four stores in the Bronx
• VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired—promotes independence of people of all ages who are blind through skill training, congregate programs and support for caregivers

“Workers of all ages are good for business and these finalists are proof positive that creating a work environment that values older workers pays off big time,” says Ruth Finkelstein, ScD, director of the Age Smart Employer Awards program and associate director of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health. “What this diverse set of employers have in common is a focus on creating a great place to work—for workers of all ages. They do this in different ways—through flexible work arrangements, training and cross-training, staff development and promotion from within or great benefits. ”

Finalists were chosen from an original group of 52 applicants by a Selection Committee of nine experts in the field of employment and aging. The applicants submitted extensive applications addressing their respective approaches to engaging older workers. Each finalist is now participating in an employees’ survey about those practices. The Selection Committee will evaluate the employee surveys and after further deliberation will identify 3-4 winning organizations in the large and small business/nonprofit categories. The ultimate winners of the 2015 Age Employer Awards will be announced at a ceremony on December 9, 2015.

The finalists highlighted in their applications some of the Age Smart practices they are using to recruit, retain and engage older worker, including:
• Restructuring work assignments and productivity requirements to take best advantage of skills
• Flexibility in work arrangements, such as tailored working hours and telecommuting
• Focus on training opportunities for workers of all ages, including cross-training
• Formal and informal mentoring
• Targeted recruitment for mature job candidates
• Commitment to career development and promotion from within the workplace

For more information, please visit Age Smart Employer Awards. Age Smart Employer is an initiative of the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center and the New York Academy of Medicine. It receives funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

About Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its over 450 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change & health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with over 1,300 graduate students from more than 40 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers including ICAP (formerly the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs) and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu