Silver tsunami in North Carolina
Link [1]
Project Equity research says there were 14,400 family owned businesses in the 18 county Western North Carolina region where the youngest family member is 55. The kids went to college and didn’t come back to the family business. 24 million United States workers could be affected by the coming “silver tsunami,” which refers to business owners of the baby boomer generation retiring without a succession plan for their businesses. They can form coops or other forms of employee ownership. At co-ops, workers decide how to run the business and keep the profits, which is shown to lead to better pay and working conditions, and increased productivity over traditional businesses.
Small businesses that have been built up over decades have served as anchors in their communities, providing important services and stable employment. Some retiring business owners will sell to their children, but four out of five don’t have a plan for what will happen next.
The silver tsunami has brought renewed urgency to this work, as jurisdictions seek to preserve local businesses that have an outsize impact on local communities and economies. The number of worker cooperatives in the U.S. has increased rapidly in recent years, buoyed by mounting evidence that they can create good paying jobs and support community wealth-building.
People, funds and organizations involved in addressing the Silver tsunami happening to small family owned businesses where the kids don’t want the business. A look at the funds addressing the issue would be a focus for [[Neighborhood Economics, Asheville] The class is where we assemble the people making it happen and learn from them what’s working and what’s not. The conference would look at shared ownership more broadly.
Allison Lingane Franzi Charen Chris Grassinger Project Equity Mountain Biz Works Self Help
Cooperative ways to weather the Silver tsunami. Yes Magazine link [2]
They point to the Small business closure crisis
6 out of 10 business owners plan to sell in the next decade.
Links to this page
- Act Local School (← links)
- Silver tsunami (← links)