Charles Borla
Whether it be a shoe collection, cars, animals or land —ownership has been a principal value of the United States since its inception.Mergers and acquisitions occur constantly in business. When owners want to step away, preserving the legacy of what they built and ensuring its stability is often much more difficult than anyone could expect.While succession through family members or selling to another entity is a normal progression for most businesses, nonprofit organization Project Equity says that those opportunities to exit the business are fleeting.Founded in 2014, the nonprofit aims to help business owners find exit strategies within employee-ownership models. The organization also conducts regional data studies, which have shown alarming figures for the United States’ small business economy.Over half of all privately held businesses are owned by individuals at least 55 years old, the generation known as baby boomers, employing an estimated one out of every five people in the private sector.
People are also reading…
Over the next decade, Project Equity estimates six out of every 10 business owners plan to sell. This is what they describe as the “Silver Tsunami,” a dramatic shift in the small business landscape for every American community.“When we started, we were really focused on what we called the Silver Tsunami,” said director of regional development Sarah McBroom. “The demographic trends in the U.S. showed that about half of businesses in any county, including Tucson, are owned by baby boomers nearing retirement.”Last year, the organization partnered with the City of Tucson to work to preserve the city’s small business vitality, providing support to companies that want to explore and execute employee ownership.“As more business owners face retirement or struggle to recover from the pandemic, the community becomes vulnerable to losing the local favorites that make up its culture and identity,” said Evan Edwards, CEO at Project Equity, in a news release. “Through this effort, we can keep these businesses in the community for future generations, preserving jobs and a strong local economy.”As these owners age, more companies have opted to go down the employee-ownership route. …
See the full article on Arizona residential development, or, read more Arizona real estate investing news. Feel free to share our site with your investor friends.