Forget retirement baby boomers are creating new businesses

13 your news leader / Rebecca Klopf

ROCKFORD (WREX) -When it comes to who's leading the charge for new businesses it's not the kids in their parent's garages, it's their mom and dad. A new report shows baby boomers are the next wave of entrepreneurs.

"I quit my job and started seeking what I really truly wanted to do," says Patricia Halverson, The Center for Living Whole, owner.

That was a few years ago, Patricia Halverson had just beat cancer when she decided to change her life and start a business. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation finds last year nearly one in four new entrepreneurs were between the ages of 55 and 64. She has been working with SCORE in Rockford. The national organization is made up of volunteers who help people start and grow their businesses.

"We see a number of people 55 and old coming to us. It's hard to put an exact percentage on it but I'd say about a third," says Vernon Wanner, SCORE, district director.

The study suggests older Americans are starting businesses when they can't find a job elsewhere. Vernon Wanner says the people he works with have a lot of different reasons for creating a start-up enterprise.

"They've had good careers, some of them have been very productive in their careers and they may be bored at home. Since 2008 some of the IRAs and 401(k)s have taken a hit so some people frankly need the money," says Wanner.

For Halverson she started the Center for Living Whole to help others looking to make life changes. She teaches classes and seminars plus offers holistic counseling to women in their 40s and older in hopes they might not have to wait as long as she did to find her passion.

"Through that we are able to find out what their real love of what they always wanted to do and then we work to see what stopped them from doing it, why their stuck and we work to unleash that," says Halverson.