Dave5

Two days after the closing was announced, their lives upended, the workers shared that they were exploring the possibility of reopening Common Ground as a worker cooperative—a business owned and democratically operated by its workers. They found support from the loyal customer base built by the business in over 25 years as a fixture in the Hampden neighborhood.

Over the next two-and-a-half months, the former employees worked tirelessly to make the transition happen. Their journey provides lessons for community members who see worker-ownership as a potential tool to preserve and enhance their livelihoods as a flood of small business owners reach retirement age. Some 24 million United States workers could be affected by the coming “silver tsunami,” which refers to business owners of the baby boomer generation retiring without a succession plan for their businesses.

https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2023/12/07/business-cooperative-boomers-model