The baby boomer retirement wave
As baby boomer business owners retire, our local business landscape is going through a dramatic shift.
We must support retirement-age business owners to avoid simply closing up shop. Faced with the challenges of bridging this crisis, many business owners may feel that the best route is to close down; the investment of energy and capital may not feel worth it at the end of a long career as a small business owner. Since for most small business owners, the business is their retirement nest egg, they are faced with devastating choices.
We have the opportunity to keep many of these businesses locally-owned for the long term and to deepen their positive impact on our local economy.
How? By helping them transition to broad-based employee ownership.
Around half of all privately held businesses with employees in North Carolina have owners over age 55. As they retire, we will see the greatest transfer of generational wealth in history. In addition, the vast majority (over 85%) of business owners do not have a succession plan in place, and 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 the last category will likely lay off employees, further concentrating ownership and wealth.
Employee ownership keeps businesses open and jobs local
Employee ownership can support business continuity, preserve good jobs and strengthen our local economies.
As North Carolina invests in its future economy, many are wondering how to increase opportunities and build an economy that works for all. Keeping successful businesses locally owned is part of the answer.
Employee ownership increases engagement, dedication and ingenuity, which is key to business success.
About NCEOC and our partner Project Equity
The North Carolina Employee Ownership Center, (NCEOC) serves as the central hub for employee-owned businesses in North Carolina. NCEOC is a statewide educational nonprofit with a mission to preserve and protect the job and community impacts of small and medium-sized businesses by helping many to transition to employee ownership. In this we are dedicated to protecting jobs, increasing community wealth, and creating a more vibrant, inclusive economy.
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 North Carolina Employee Ownership Center, we support this work in regions across the country.
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