From Truthout: It’s been more than 10 years since the financial crisis of 2008, and working people are still being hammered by its effects — stagnating wages, a widening gap between the rich and the poor, and a rise in the sharing economy to meet basic needs. At the same time, one legacy of the […]
From NPQ: Here at NPQ, we have noted that a business ownership succession wave—often called the “silver tsunami”—is rising. According to the nonprofit Project Equity, nationally “baby boomers own 2.34 million businesses, employ 24.7 million people, and have combined annual sales of $5.14 trillion.” Sadly, 80 percent of these businesses lack succession plans. Slowly, awareness of the looming crisis is […]
Insource Renewables is a 10-employee Solar business in Pittsfield, Maine. The original owner recognized his limited capacity to continue to manage and grow his business as a sole proprietor and saw conversion to employee-ownership as a solution that would balance his lifelong commitment and anticipated growth of the business. Insource Renewables provides a unique opportunity […]
Location: New York Industry: Hardware Number of employees: 6 Became employee owned: 2018 Assistance: Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) Railroad Avenue Supply Company is a 6-person Ace-affiliated hardware store in Stamford, New York. The owner decided to sell to employees because it would keep the store open and maintain jobs. The seller is a second generation owner […]
From the Sun Journal: The Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the city of Lewiston Department of Economic Development and the Cooperative Development Institute, is offering a workshop series on leaving a business. Planning for Tomorrow is a three-part series on options and strategies for business owners to Exit Their Business and […]
From Fifty by Fifty: Since 2012, CFNE has financed 15 co-op conversions including providing nine loans for business acquisitions and twelve working capital lines of credit to recently converted businesses. Some of our borrowers include: A Yard & A Half Landscaping Co-op, a largely immigrant co-op serving residences throughout the greater Boston area; Island Employee […]
Rock City Employee Cooperative is a 25-worker café and roastery in Rockland, ME, that became a cooperative corporation in 2018. The founder started the business in 1992 and saw in the sale an opportunity to reward workers for their efforts building the business, assurance that the café’s character as a main street community center would […]
3Cross Fermentation Cooperative is a 3-employee worker cooperative brewery in Worcester, Massachusetts. The original owner drew inspiration from Black Star Co-op brewery in Austin, Texas, and realized it aligned with his original intentions to own a business that was community focused and now community owned. The cooperative will be crowdfunding by selling community equity shares to its patrons. Industry: Food and Beverage Location: Worcester, Massachusetts […]
From RIFuture.org: The Rhode Island Senate calendar for Tuesday features legislation that makes it easier to create and run worker-owned cooperatives. The bill is “a statutory vehicle for the creation and functioning of workers’ cooperatives which are corporations that are owned and democratically governed by their members.” Read more RIFuture.org – Worker co-op bill being heard […]
From Yes Magazine: Five years later, things are better for Rock City, though certainly not perfect. And at age 64, Ward is ready to retire. With help from Rob Brown of the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) in Maine, she is now working on the details of transitioning Rock City to worker ownership. “I had three […]