Project Equity was invited to write a piece for The Democracy Collaborative, a national research institution working to build a more democratic economy by growing and preserving community wealth. In it we show, by inventorying retiring business owners, city by city, across the nation, we can gauge how many businesses and jobs are our communities at risk of losing.
An opportunity exists to turn these potential lemons into lemonade. Through employee ownership, many of these businesses can be kept locally owned for the long term and deepen their positive impact on communities.
To date, Project Equity has developed regional analyses across the US including the San Francisco Bay Area, Twin Cities, Western North Carolina, Detroit and Central Pennsylvania. Nationwide we’ve identified millions of businesses at risk. By working with economic developers and community leaders we help implement employee ownership as a solution. We are always looking to bring our tools to more regions.