Worker co-ops: A way for small business to outlive their founders

The Boston Globe reports on small Massachusetts-based businesses that are becoming worker owned co-ops as their founders retire; (read a PDF of the article here: Worker Co-ops).Small businesses, especially sole proprietorships, don't necessarily outlive their owners unless a succession plan is in place. Without family members interested in taking on the business, many simply go out of business when the founder/owner retires or dies.An alternative is to structure an employee buy-out that lets the employees form a co-operative ownership model. The Mass Center for Employee Ownership (MassCEO) says there are currently 57 co-operative employee owned businesses in the state and they are largely clustered in Boston and the Connecticut River Valley.There is currently a bill in committee (House 2962) that would offer tax breaks to business owners to sell to their employees and Boston gives co-ops priority status for the SPACE grant program trying to fill empty storefronts in the city.