Colorado Employee Ownership Office
Across the United States, an estimated 6 in 10 business owners plan to retire or sell their businesses within the next 10 years. Yet only 15% of businesses are passed down to the next generation, and only 20% of listed businesses sell. That leaves many owners without the opportunity to benefit financially from their decades of hard work and leaves employees susceptible to job loss. Colorado is no exception—across the state, 48% of Colorado’s small business owners are 55 or older.
Employee ownership models offer an alternative path to retirement that also preserves jobs, creating a win-win for business owners, employees and communities. Within the next 10 years, thousands of business owners in Colorado plan to leave their business. Employee ownership, paired with business strategy, creates sustainable economic opportunities.
The Colorado Employee Ownership Office establishes a network of training, support, education, and consulting for businesses considering employee ownership structures. The office brings together partners including employee-owned businesses, attorneys, financial and accounting professionals, and other employee ownership organizations.
Employee-owned businesses promote a higher quality of life for employee-owners including higher wages, less turnover, access to better benefits, and job security. For the business owner, they get the benefit of a more engaged workforce, a guaranteed succession plan, and a way to attract and retain top talent.
Quick Links
Programming
To learn more about the benefits and employee ownership options, the Employee Ownership Office has produced an introductory course. This is a free online course available on demand and accessible to Colorado-headquartered small business owners interested in investigating employee ownership. To get started with this introductory course, navigate to the “to strengthen” track of the Small Business Educational Programming page and click on the “Introduction to Employee Ownership” course to instantly enroll in the course. After completing the course, you will be able to "connect with a consultant" to learn more about next steps on your conversion journey and receive a referral to an employee-ownership organization.
The Employee Ownership Peer Networks connect Colorado Employee-Owned Companies with business owners interested in employee ownership. These networks connect employee-owned companies across the state and offer a space where business leaders can collaborate with one another to share best practices and discuss challenges they may be facing. By creating an employee ownership community in Colorado, we are able to connect more resources and opportunities for business owners, service providers, and employee owners.
We have 3 Peer Networks: the ESOP Executives Peer Network, the ESOP Communications Committees Peer Network, and the Worker-Cooperative Peer Network. Sign up for the Employee Ownership Peer Network to connect with other employee-owned companies:
By submitting this form, I certify that this information is accurate and that I, as the business representative, have the authority to submit on behalf of the business. I confirm this information can be verified and used to illustrate the growing community of employee ownership service providers in Colorado.
To further understand the employee ownership landscape in Colorado, the office actively looks for opportunities to connect with business owners. In 2022, the office partnered with the Exit Planning Institute to release the Colorado State of Owner Readiness Report, (PDF) and Quicklook Brochure, (PDF) to provide insight into how prepared Colorado businesses are to transition ownership, including selling to employees.
If you would like to be added to the database of Service Providers and Technical Assistance Providers to stay informed on the deployment of future programming in the succession, exit, and continuity planning spaces, please complete the Service Providers Registration.
Who should own your business after you? If you are like most business owners, you may not have an answer to this important question. Review the guide Who should own your business after you?, (PDF), created in partnership with the National Center for Employee Ownership, Center for Community Wealth Building, and Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center, to take a look at why hundreds of Colorado business owners sell to their employees.
Prior to connecting with a consultant, please complete the Introduction to Employee Ownership course. You will have the opportunity to connect with a consultant at the conclusion of the programming.
Funding Opportunities
Funding from the Employee Ownership Tax Credit will be available to Colorado-headquartered businesses to cover up to 50% of a qualified business’ conversion costs for use on their state income taxes. Applications are open and accepted on a rolling basis.
The Employee Ownership Grant provides funds to offset transition professional technical services costs for Colorado businesses converting to an employee ownership structure.
Our office can assist you in finding the right financial resources for your employee-ownership transition. We maintain a database of sources of capital, and the following programs are also available:
- Cash Collateral Support: The Cash Collateral Support program helps small and medium-sized businesses in Colorado access loans that they would otherwise not get because they do not have enough collateral. One of the goals of this program is to support employee ownership business transitions and financing for employee-owned businesses.
- Colorado Credit Reserve: The Colorado Credit Reserve program helps businesses that typically struggle to get access to a bank loan. The program helps lenders make loans by establishing a loan loss reserve account with the lender as additional security.
Please reach out to the employee ownership consultant for further information.
Further Information
A common belief of employee ownership is that a company must either have an employee stock ownership plan or be a cooperative. However, Colorado's definition of employee ownership is more broad.
We broadly define an employee-owned company as the following:
- Offer at least 20% equity in the business to employees (excluding founders)
- Have at least 3 full-time employees included in the employee-ownership structure (or 3 members if a cooperative)
- Be headquartered in Colorado
- Use one of the following structures to offer ownership to employees:
- Employee Ownership Trust (EOT)
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
- LLC Membership
- Phantom Stock
- Profits Interest
- Restricted Stock
- Stock Appreciation Rights (SAR)
- Stock Options
- Synthetic Equity
- Worker-Owned Cooperative (Co-op)
Check out the latest Employee Ownership News
Colorado is home to over 230 employee-owned companies! If you would like to be added to the map, please review the Colorado Employee-Owned Company Definition above, and connect with a consultant below.
View Colorado Employee Owned Businesses in a full screen map
Connect Further
