Industry: Printing
Location: Queens, New York
Number of employees: 4
Became employee owned: 2018
Assistance and financing from: The Working World
L&S Printing has been a community institution in Far Rockaway for over 20 years, providing printing and computer repair services primarily to local schools and churches. Since the beginning of 2017, The Working World has been helping the retiring owner of the business to transfer ownership of the company to their employees. The Working World facilitated the negotiation between the selling owners of L&S rinters and the employees, navigating the complicated legal, financial and managerial issues involved in this kind of ownership transfer. The Working World also helped the new worker-owners develop a governance structure and operating agreement for their new business, and continue to provide post-conversion support to help the new worker-owners become managers.
The new business has two worker-owners who have been with the company for more than 10 years, and two provisional members. These new worker-owners will benefit from profit-sharing to build local wealth, with an anticipated increase in income of $20K per worker once the conversion loan has been repaid. By taking on ownership of this business, these workers are preserving a key community asset and allowing the owners peace of mind that their legacy will live on. L&S Printing now serves as a prime example of worker ownership on the main retail strip in the Rockaways, and has already generated much interest amongst other business owners in the community about the possibility of cooperative conversions.
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