With the help of RMEOC, Fancy Tiger was able to transition into a worker cooperative, allowing the original owners to sell their company and have the peace of mind that the integrity of the company they created is upheld.
“We briefly thought of selling the business (to an outside buyer), but we have so much love for what we built that putting it into someone else’s hands who we don’t know their intentions would feel kind of wrong,” says Corcoran, referring to the traditional business succession method of selling to the highest bidder.
“We had a lot of amazing employees that we counted on to help us with running the business,” she says, making Fancy Tiger a perfect candidate for a co-op transition. So that’s what they did.
Corcoran and Jennings liked the idea of equity for members that came with creating a co-op.
“They all put in the same risk and no one is taking on more risk than anyone else,” says Jennings.
Before initiating the transition, Corcoran and Jennings proposed the idea to their workers of becoming a cooperative. “I think it was like 50% excitement and 50% not having any idea what they were getting themselves into, but they were willing to learn more,” says Jennings.
Read the rest at Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center
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