Worker-owned businesses taking over for retiring baby boomers, says Fast Company

GaryPageau , ,

A recent article in Fast Company will be of interest to baby-boomer business owners who are looking to pass on their operations. In the past year, we’ve had high-visibility photo retailers like University Camera and Chris’ Camera Center announced they will shut down their operations after efforts to turn up buyers were naught.

In the article, “Can The Wave Of Boomer Entrepreneur Retirements Create A Surge Of Worker-Owned Businesses?”, writer Adele Peters describes how North Carolina businesses are coping with a wave of retiring baby boomers. Nationally, baby boomers own 2.34 million businesses, which will be heading for a shut-down unless a buyer is found. More often than not, that buyer may be the employees or even a group of employees.

“Nearly half of the privately held businesses in the area are owned by baby boomers who are getting ready to retire. In many cases, an owner’s children may not want to take over, and with a glut of businesses on the market, a buyer might not be found. Moving to worker ownership is a way to keep a business from shutting down,” says Peters.

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Gary Pageau is principal of InfoCircle LLC, continuing his marketing communications career. InfoCircle LLC is a marketing and communications consulting firm, specializing in business-to-business markets. For nearly 25 years, he was with PMA International, serving most recently as Publisher, Content Development and Strategic Initiatives. His primary responsibilities included overseeing the Association’s editorial department, marketing research unit, education and corporate relations department.