A big part of my day job right now is something called “The Legacy Project“. The project has several phases but aims to build the profile of worker ownership at a time when many small business owners seek to retire. Small business owners, often cited as the “backbone” of the nation’s economy, face a dilemma, especially in rural communities. As they reach retirement (thinking 70 and older these days), there may not be an obvious exit strategy. It may be that the kids have flown the coop for a different life or just not interested in the business. A statistical data point is that only 20% of small businesses actually sell to a new owner. The rest simply close and sell off the assets. For some small business owners, this might mean a precarious retirement. For the workers, it means an end to employment. For the community, it can mean reduced economic vitality and loss of a “sense of place.”
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Fed up with their banks' reluctance to lend, an Italian dairy cooperative has raised 6 million euros by issuing bonds guaranteed by huge wheels of Parmesan cheese.
While Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are battling it out on the appropriate rate for minimum wage ($12 and $15, respectively), economic policies pertaining to “shared ownership” strategies, such as employee ownership and profit-sharing, deserve greater attention. Both forms of shared ownership have been shown to boost economic growth by increasing productivity, profits, wages, and firm innovation. Both Clinton and Sanders support shared ownership; in order to determine what policies will be most beneficial, an in-depth dialogue on the merits of these plans is essential.
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