Minnesota - Project Equity
Many local businesses are shutting down or are forced to severely curtail operations. Others need to shift operations and invest in retooling in order to operate in our changed, socially distanced environment. As Minnesota experiences some of the highest level of job losses since the Great Depression, leading economists fear that many of these businesses will not survive.
With almost half of all privately held businesses with employees having owners over age 55 in the Minnesota, we will see a massive ownership changeover of locally held businesses as the ‘Silver Tsunami’ of retirements marches forward. The vast majority (over 85%) of business owners do not have a succession plan in place, and increasingly, many are finding it hard to find a buyer when they are ready to sell. As a result, some of these companies will quietly close down, a very small percent will be passed on to family members, others will sell to another local owner, and some will be sold to a larger company or out of area buyer. Those in this last category will likely lay off employees and will further concentrate ownership and wealth.
Join us in advancing a two-pronged small business recovery agenda that supports business continuity and incorporates employee ownership. With our partners, we are accelerating our efforts and working across Minnesota to help business owners who are considering closing their businesses for good.
As a national organization, Project Equity advocates for and raises awareness of broad-based, democratic employee ownership, and we support businesses in transitioning to this highly beneficial business model. Through amazing local partners like the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership and Nexus Community Partners, we support this work in regions across the country.
Nexus Community Partners, based in the Twin Cities, works to build a more inclusive economy for communities of color. The Nexus Worker Ownership Initiative (WOI) helps business owners with succession planning and specializes in exploring the benefits of incorporating employee-ownership into transition plans. The WOI team offers a full suite of consulting services to support businesses throughout their succession process.