Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership Receives $15,000 Grant from the LaBounty Family Fund to Continue Outreach Work in Northern Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS, July 5, 2022—The Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership (MNCEO) has received a $15,00 grant from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation’s LaBounty Family Fund to continue its work to raise awareness of the benefits of business-owner succession planning and employee ownership in Northern Minnesota.

Established in January 2020, MNCEO provides free and unbiased educational opportunities for business owners, their employees, their advisors, and community leaders interested in exploring the many different forms of employee ownership, including employee stock ownership plans, worker-owned cooperatives, and employee ownership trusts. It has been shown that employee ownership offers workers at all levels of an organization a piece of the pie, which ultimately creates a strong financial future for all.

MNCEO will use the LaBounty Family Fund grant to hire a contracted outreach coordinator based in the Duluth or surrounding area with a deep knowledge of Northern Minnesota who can support the organization’s work by developing a network within the business ownership community. The grant will also be used to hold employee-ownership workshops, develop and refine online content, and gain valuable insights into the more than 100 business owners nearing retirement age in Lake County, specifically Two Harbors.

The population of business owners nearing retirement across Minnesota is an impending crisis. In Lake County, Minn., 50% of business owners are over the age of 55. These 103 businesses represent 900 employees, a payroll of $26 million, and $104 million in county revenue. Half of these businesses have no succession plan and will likely close their doors, which would represent a loss of $50 million in Lake County revenue annually in the next three to five years.

“Rural Minnesotans have a higher population experiencing poverty and more stagnant wages than metro area residents,” said MNCEO Executive Director Sue Crockett. “The LaBounty Family Fund grant will allow us to establish a much stronger network of business advisors in the greater Duluth and Two Harbors area who can work with us to promote the concept of employee ownership models to retiring business owners and their employees with the objective of retaining jobs, increasing wages, and preserving revenues in Lake County through employee-ownership conversion.”

MNCEO helps business owners, their employees and advisors connect with experienced professionals in the employee-ownership arena to guide them throughout their business transition journey. This includes providing them with free and unbiased articles, case studies, and lists of recommended service advisors.

In recent years, succession planning has also become a growing concern among employees and elected officials around the country as baby boomers begin to retire in greater numbers. A 2020 study developed by Project Equity on behalf of MNCEO showed that approximately 50% of all job-creating businesses in Minnesota are owned by those over the age of 55. These 53,000 businesses employ more than 600,000 workers, with a payroll of $24 billion.

Project Equity’s MNCEO report also estimates that 60% of these business owners plan to transfer ownership in the next decade, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating this retirement timeline for many. Yet, many business owners do not have a succession plan in place in the wake of what business analysts have referred to as a Silver Tsunami.

About the LaBounty Family Fund

The LaBounty Family Fund, part of the Two Harbors Area Fund family of funds, provides assistance to projects, which promote economic development in the Two Harbors area. Economic development must benefit the public directly and significantly and any private benefit is only incidental and insubstantial in comparison to the public benefit. Grants from the LaBounty Family Fund generally range from $1,000 to $15,000. To learn more, visit https://www.dsacommunityfoundation.org/labounty-family-fund?tt=0.

About the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership

The Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free and unbiased information and resources to business owners and their advisors on the benefits of employee ownership throughout Minnesota. Established in 2020, MNCEO is part of a national network of state centers for employee ownership created by the Employee Ownership Expansion Network, which is committed to closing the wealth gap for all employees. For more information on MNCEO, visit www.mnceo.org.

About the Employee Ownership Expansion Network

The Employee Ownership Expansion Network is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2018 in Philadelphia, Pa.

Its mission is to significantly expand employee ownership in the United States by establishing and supporting a network of independent nonprofit centers for employee ownership. EOX has provided funding and technical assistance to support the opening of 11 state centers for employee ownership. The organization aims to help create one million new employee-owners by 2025 by having at least 70% of the U.S. population living in a state with a center for employee ownership. To learn more, visit www.eoxnetwork.org.