SHERIDAN - Officials in Sheridan are planning to utilize an untapped workforce resource: retirees who want to return to work.

Sheridan's economic development organization, in conjunction with several state departments, is creating a system that will match retired workers with local employers.

"We want to set up a long-term system to bring together retirees and companies," said Philippe Chino, president/CEO of Forward Sheridan.

The organization is working with the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services and the state AARP office. Chino said the groups are collaborating to establish a simple way for retired Sheridan residents to find employment and for employers to find older workers who can fit their company's needs.

'Instead of recruiting workers from Michigan or some other state, this is a way of recruiting within the community,' Chino said.

After meeting Tuesday in Sheridan, the WDWS, AARP Wyoming and Forward Sheridan are now researching options that would best suit a community that has an established retired community. While the local WDWS may dedicate an employee to retirees and employer matchups or an existing database program may be expanded, Chino said no system has been determined yet. Plus Chino said answers to issues such as social security benefits and age discrimination will be addressed as part of the project.

'We all are in sync on this project,' Chino said. 'We are now going back to our own groups, coming up with some ideas and then we will meet again in January.'

Though the model being developed now is focused on Sheridan, it could be reproduced in other Wyoming communities.

'We see this as maybe a pilot community for us to eventually expand into other communities,' said Rob Black, grants coordinator for the WDWS.

With fierce competition for workers in Wyoming, many industries are facing labor shortages. While some communities are focused on recruiting from other states, Chino said retirees remain an untapped workforce source in Sheridan.

Many retirees want to work, but many do not desire a traditional work schedule, Black said. They want to use their skills and knowledge, but they also want flexible or seasonal hours. In fact, AARP Wyoming Associate State Director Joanne Bowlby said 80 percent of people over the age of 50 say they want or need to work.

'It's just a matter of connecting the dots, or in this case, connecting the workers and the businesses and employers,' she said.

While the WDWS already has a workforce database, {M7www.wyomingatwork.com, Chino said the community needs an established place or database for retirees to find work and employers to find skilled workers.

'What we need here is a clearinghouse,' Chino said. 'These folks would like to go to one place and look at someone that's dedicated to them. That's going to be our challenge here in Sheridan: finding that clearinghouse.'

Yet Chino said he is encouraged by the collaboration of AARP, WDWS and Forward Sheridan. By April, Chino said he hopes to see a working system matching retirees and employers.

'We're not saying this is something that we want to create for six months to a year,' Chino said. 'This is something that must be created to last for years and years. It has to be a new way to do business in Sheridan.'