What would make this newly proclaimed small town girl go back into the land of all-day rush hours and overcrowded spaces? The chance to represent the town I love!

Many of you might not realize but a group of business leaders and individuals have been meeting for a couple of years to make Washington an officially recognized Retire NC community.

Retire NC is a certification program run by Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Its mission is to promote North Carolina as a retirement destination an assist N.C. communities. Each community that is accepted into the program must prove that it offers a long list of amenities that a typical retiree is looking for. Washington was accepted into the program in April of this year.

The state promotes Washington, but it is up to the local committee to provide the marketing materials to the state and to run the program locally. Catherine Glover of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce and Lynn Wingate Davis of the Washington Tourism Development Authority are the two agencies that run the program day to day. Many businesses, the City of Washington and Beaufort County have underwritten the cost of the program and marketing materials.

Some of the marketing materials that have been created include: a teaser piece for Retire NC Campaign to procure leads, a Washington/Beaufort County fact sheet and retirement inquiry response packages. Once here, retirees receive a bucket full of information on the area. The bucket corresponds with the current campaign theme, “You’re going to need more buckets.” The committee has created a website: RetireWashingtonNC.com and has worked directly with the Washington Daily News to create a new, annual retirement guide.

I believe that retiree-based economic development makes sense for Beaufort County. Who would argue that Washington shouldn’t try to capture an increase in sales and sales taxes that retirees bring? Why wouldn’t we want an increase in experienced volunteers along with stimulation of many economic sectors?

That is why I have served on the steering committee for Retire NC. That is also why when a recent opportunity became available to represent the committee by going to the Ideal Living retirement expo in Tysons Corner, Virginia, I jumped at the chance.

The retirement real estate expo was held at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner. Close to 700 people came through the doors to see what is available to retirees. Most of the vendors at the show were representing retirement communities. North Carolina and Tennessee were the only vendors representing a whole state. I was able to represent Washington because all Retire NC communities are invited to work along with Andre Nabors, who runs the state-wide Retire NC program. New Bern was also represented.

It was very interesting to talk with the many people who attended. Quite a few retirees shared that they are thinking about moving to North Carolina. A lot didn’t really know where in North Carolina they want to go but usually had an idea if they wanted to be in the mountains, piedmont or coast. Many, if not most, had never heard of Washington. That gave me the opportunity to describe Washington and answer all their questions. I also made sure that we got their names and email addresses.

Other common questions were about taxes. Many asked whether North Carolina taxes retirement income like pensions, income from 401Ks and IRAs. Unfortunately, the answer is yes, at a rate of 5.75 percent. Along with many other states, North Carolina does not tax Social Security benefits, though. I made sure I explained how relatively low our property taxes are compared to the D.C. area.

Once the real estate expo was over, Nabors sends each community the email addresses in a spreadsheet. Once the email addresses reach Washington, they are sent an email offering an invite to come visit Washington to see for themselves what a great place Washington is. The addresses are also distributed to the Retire NC program sponsors so they might have an opportunity to reach out to these individuals.

Going to the real estate trade shows is an important piece of the Retire NC program. If you consider the success that Cypress Landing has had attracting retirees, you should know they have attended these type of shows for many years. I’m proud to report that Washington has a well-functioning Retire NC program in place. Attention to each person who shows interest in Washington is a lot of work, but it is how we are going to attract retirees to our area.

Beth Byrd is a local realtor with Coldwell Banker Coastal Rivers Realty.