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Suggest questionProfessional researcher Saul Rockman discovered an exit strategy that saved the company from closing its doors. Saul and his team of researchers approached the decision to become employee-owned much like they approach their work. They wanted to thoroughly investigate it before moving forward. The entire process took about 16 months, and Rockman et al officially became a worker-owned cooperative in August of 2019.
Transcript from YouTube captions. May contain errors.
you know I I always thought the trouble was that my name was on the door but now I'm not I'm not worried about it at all and the fact that whether it stays or goes as long as the company is doing the kind of work that it does well I'm delighted we've been trying to figure out what does the company look like after Sol's exit it was clear that he was looking for an exit strategy of some kind we tried a few things before but this looked like it might be a possible way for the company to survive essentially - to live on and not have Saul just basically wrap it up and close it I think there was there was a fear of the unknown not knowing how we were going to keep the doors open and keep running without the all the different roles that Saul played when we finally got around to saying okay we're at the stage now where we want to know you know without without making a commitment in paper you know are you in and we got a great response they laid out a strategy for how to think through the conversion that allowed us to follow along in the plan and I think laying out the process and taking us through the steps was obviously the bulk of the work but I think another piece that is absolutely critical that we really would have struggled with is the relationship building with some of the outside groups and for me it really is you know this is an opportunity for us to take over ownership and management of the company and I literally don't think that we would have been able to traverse it without frantic picnics halibut it's been transformative for a lot of the individuals in the company who now have a different kind of responsibility DeLand would have had before and have the investment and making sure that this this thing works for everybody I think for owners the idea of trusting the people who work for you those who have delivered in the past who have made you the success that you are should be given the opportunity to step up to the plate and take on the new responsibilities of others you
About Project Equity
Project Equity is a national leader in the movement to harness the power of employee ownership to provide business owners with an accessible succession plan, preserve legacy businesses, strengthen local economies, and increase wealth among workers.
Project Equity works with partners around the country to raise awareness about employee ownership as an exit strategy and provides hands-on consulting and capital in addition to offering accredited continuing education for business advisors.
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