After hearing three different proposals on how to engage the elderly workforce...Greater Mankato Growth has decided which projects will receive funding from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.The two selected are the M Plus project that will give seniors technical skills to stay active in the workforce and W.O.W., or Welcoming Older Workers, which focuses on incorporating older employees into businesses.The projects will not only be beneficial to the older generation still employed, but younger workers as well.Bryan Stempka says, "They have a wealth of experience and knowledge that they can pass on to people of younger generations. And a lot of what businesses are doing, particularly with aging workforces is looking at succession planning and what we want to do through these efforts and through the community is to encourage these things."Other goals of the projects are increasing income levels for participants and boost profits for companies where older employees are working.