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Oct 30th Event in Asheville to Highlight the Business and Community Benefits of Employee Ownership

An event hosted by the New Belgium Brewing Company on October 30th provides an opportunity for business owners, community leaders, and economic developers to learn about the virtues of employee ownership. Part of an initiative called Homegrown Legacies, the event will discuss how employee ownership can help companies become more competitive, provide a viable business succession strategy, and build stronger local economies. The free event offers an opportunity to connect with leaders of existing employee owned companies and experts on the employee buyout process. Anyone interested in attending this free event can register here.
In 2013, more than half of all U.S. business owners were older than 50 in North Carolina, and the number of baby boomers reaching retirement age is expected increase by more than 200,000 over the next 15 years, according to a report on the potential benefits of employee ownership for the state . Many of these baby boomers operate businesses that are pillars of their local business community, but what will happen when they are ready to retire? Some could get bought out by capital funds with no roots in their community, or shutter altogether.  The event will discuss how employee buyouts can provide a financially beneficial exit strategy, while also saving jobs and keeping companies locally controlled. While the conversation will focus on employee buyouts, the broader economic benefits of employee ownership will be discussed.
Homegrown Legacies is an effort to employee ownership in North Carolina through expanding Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and worker owned cooperatives.  This initiative supports businesses that want to explore employee ownership and educates economic developers, community leaders, and other stakeholders of the documented ways that employee ownership can build stronger local economies. For example, the National Center for Employee Ownership has published many studies on how corporate performance improves when employees own a piece of their company.
Employee ownership is already success story in North Carolina already. From a high-end hotel in Greensboro, to a precision measurement company in Durham, to a fabrication and welding machine shop in Washington, NC, to a stone, mirror and surfaces fabrication company in Winston-Salem and many others, employee owned companies are already part of the economic fabric of communities across the state.
Employee ownership is a powerful, but underappreciated, tool for saving jobs, keeping companies rooted in local communities, giving employees a deeper stake in their company’s success, and to providing secure retirements for business owners and employees alike. If you would like to learn more about employee ownership in North Carolina, please visit the Homegrown Legacies website or register for the next educational event on October 30th.
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The free event offers an opportunity to connect with leaders of existing employee owned companies and experts on the employee buyout process. Anyone interested in attending this free event can register here

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