Industry: Insurance Location: South Paris, Maine Number of employees: 13 Became employee owned: 2019 Assistance: Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) Financing: Cooperative Fund of New England (CFNE) Learn more wjwheeler.com CDI – Leaving A Cooperative Legacy: After Five Generations, the W.J. Wheeler Insurance Agency Transitions to Worker Ownership (2020) NCEO – Maine Legislator Introduces Pro-Employee Ownership Bill (2019) […]
Industry: Lumber Location: Jay, New York Number of employees: 50 Became employee owned: In transition Assistance: Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) Learn more wardlumber.com Adirondack Daily Enterprise – North Country development council unveils 11 priority projects (2019) CDI – CDI’s Business Ownership Solutions Visits the Adirondack North Country (2019) Employee Owned Small Businesses in New York Employee Owned Small […]
Industry: News Location: Woolwich, Maine Number of employees: 10 Became employee owned: 2019 Assistance: Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) Learn more mainernews.com The Bollard – Mainer is Born! (2019) The Bollard – The Mainer (2019) Employee Owned Small Businesses in Maine Employee Owned Small Businesses Assisted by CDI
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 […]