Jackie Miller

Staff Photo by Tim Barber Jackie Miller, center, owner of several Beltone offices in the area, walks with his wife, Nancy, right, and talks with a landscaping contractor Lana Steele outside his new location in Fort Oglethorpe. "It took us about six-months to close on this property on Battlefield Parkway," Mr. Miller said.

A growing baby boomer market and a well-known brand have led to record growth in a slow economy for one local company.

Jackie and Nancy Miller, the owners of the area’s Beltone Hearing Aid Centers, said his business has had growth in the area for the past several years.

“We had a record year last year, and we are 20 percent ahead of last year right now,” Mr. Miller said.

The Millers have responded by expanding their presence in Fort Oglethorpe with a larger location on Battlefield Parkway. They closed Monday on the site at the corner of Battlefield Parkway and Cedar Lane and will be working over the next few weeks to get the store ready to open.

“In the North Georgia area we feel like we need a very permanent location,” Mr. Miller said. “We’ve been there for years and we’re committed to the area, and therefore we are going to invest in the area to make sure that we always have a Beltone in North Georgia at a very convenient location.”

During October of last year, arguably one of the worst months on the record for the U.S. economy, the local Beltone centers had their best month ever since they first began selling the hearing aids nine years ago.

“We are hiring and training people as fast as we can get them trained,” he said.

The couple owns 11 locations from Bowling Green, Ky., to Jasper, Ga., including the Fort Oglethorpe store. Most of the stores are in southeastern Tennessee. Mr. Miller said he plans to open another store in North Georgia this fall, but declined to reveal a specific location.

“Beltone has purchased the best remaining signalized corner in Fort Oglethorpe that was not already controlled by a regional or national outfit,” said Jeff Jennings with NAI Charter Real Estate. “With the median age of our citizens increasing, Beltone has been able to not only fight off the recession, but grow.”

While the aging population is a contributing factor of the business’s success, Mr. Miller said that having a product that has been in existence for years is a big part of it.

“When times are slower, people really lean toward more of what they know and quality items, they’re less likely to take a chance on an unknown product,” he said.

Beltone first opened in Chattanooga in 1945, five years after the company was founded.