EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AS A SUCCESSION STRATEGY: THE BUILT IN BUYER
This session will highlight how Employee Ownership can play an important role in exit planning. Employee Ownership Stock Plans (ESOPs), Worked Owned Cooperatives, and Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) are the tools to use when the selling owner is:
- Looking to preserve their legacy
- Reward their employees
- Preserve jobs and the business in their community
- Having difficulty finding a buyer
Learning Objectives:
- Learn about the three primary forms of Employee Ownership (ESOPs, Worker Owned Cooperatives, and EOTs) and what businesses each model is best suited for.
- Understand the benefits and the challenges that come with these forms of Employee Ownership.
- Learn from real world examples of companies that transitioned to an EOT and a cooperative.
About the Presenters:
Hear from industry experts Darren Mozenter, Northern Regional Director, Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership, Kirsten Kennedy, Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership, Jeremy White, Founder, CodeWeavers, Inc., Dyanne Ross-Hanson, President, Founder of Exit Planning Strategies, LLC, and Leah Goldstein Moses, Tranquil Bay.
Event Details
Who Should Attend?
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Attorneys
You have close relationships with clients, and can benefit from being the first advisor to introduce the idea of exit planning.
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CPAs/Accountants
Owners participating in the State of Owner Readiness research continue to indicate that you are the No. 1 "Most Trusted Advisor." You are a natural fit to lead the exit planning team and deepen your relationship (and retention) of next generation owners.
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Wealth Managers
You’re a skilled relationship person. Being entangled into your clients’ professional lives matters as you build a strategy to manage their wealth upon them harvesting it from their business. Exit planning allows you to build a deeper relationship with your client, expands your COI network, while giving you an early seat at table well before the liquidity event.
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Financial Advisors
One of the critical ‘legs of the stool’ is personal financing planning. An owner must have a strong financial plan & contingency plan post-transition to enable them to thrive in the next act of the lives personally and financially. Exit planning brings this future mindset into the present. Exit is now.
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Investment Bankers
Only 2 of every 10 businesses that come to market actually sell. Learn how exit planning can bring attractive AND ready business to your purview.
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Valuation Analysts
Valuation is both a billable engagement AND an opportunity to provide owners some perspective on how to accelerate value drivers (and deal with value killers). Use exit planning to make that valuation into a longer term value acceleration engagement.
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Estate Planners
Exit planning is a natural fit for estate planners who want to operate more holistically with their owner clients.
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Strategic Consultants
One of the most critical roles in exit planning is building transferable value. Strategic consultants have the ability to expand options and drive rapid business value that affect performance today.
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Insurance Professionals
Exit planning addresses the 5 D's. So do you. Approach the risk conversation differently with exit planning.
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Mergers & Acquisition Advisors
Proper exit planning causes less deals to fall through at the last minute. Connect with CEPAs to build your healthy deal flow network.
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Commercial Lenders
One of the best relationships a business owner makes is with their banker. How can you help your corporate clients think about the future and ensure financial continuity? Answer: exit planning.
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Family Business Advisors
More than 50% of lower middle market business owners would prefer to transition to the next generation. Help them succeed with exit planning strategies.
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Other Professional Advisors
Regardless of your unique specialty, there is seat at the exit planning table for you. Learn more at www.EarnCEPA.com.
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Private Business Owners
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Members of Family Business Boards
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Professional Advisors
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Business Consultants
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Other Business Professionals
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Business Owners
EXIT PLANNING IS GOOD BUSINESS STRATEGY
The Exit Planning Institute, provides Financial Advisors, Accountants, Consultants, and other advisors of business owners with the critical education to differentiate themselves and add value to their existing client relationships through a credential, conference, courses, and content. Download the CEPA brochure for more information.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Meet Dyanne Ross-Hanson, CEPA, CLU, CFP, CHFC:
Dyanne Ross-Hanson CEPA, CLU, CFP, CHFC, is President of Exit Planning Strategies, LLC. A firm dedicated to offering business owners (industry generic) objective, fee-based, financial consulting in the development of intentional ownership transition plans.
She directs and inter-disciplinary process for owners and their advisory team to explore planning options, map realistic exit strategies, and develop an Action Checklist to accomplish the owner’s objectives.
She has an expertise in the areas of internal transitions, key employee incentive/retention plans, and business continuity. Her work is outcome agnostic and owner centric.
Dyanne is a founding member and serves as Secretary for the Twin Cities Metro Area EPI Chapter.
Meet Kristen Kennedy:
Kirsten Kennedy is the executive director of the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership.
As executive director, Kirsten is responsible for leading MNCEO’s networking, fundraising, and programming initiatives to educate business owners, their employees and financial advisors, and elected officials across Minnesota on the prospect of and long-term benefits of employee ownership.
Prior to joining MNCEO, Kirsten served as the mayor of North Branch, a city in Central Minnesota with more than 10,500 residents. During Kirsten’s tenure as mayor, her public policy initiatives were focused on economic development, affordable housing, infrastructure repair and development, and supporting housing for people with chronic mental health challenges and homelessness.
Meet Darren Mozenter:
Darren Mozenter is the Northern Regional Director for the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership, a free hub for information and resources on all forms of employee ownership, including employee stock ownership plans, employee ownership trusts, and worker-owned cooperatives.
Passionate about social justice issues, Darren is directly responsible for developing strategic, community-based partnerships, as well as expanding the organization’s presence in the Northland through community conversations, lunch and learns, panel discussions, town hall meetings, and topical webinars.
Prior to joining MNCEO, Darren was a Worker-Owner at the Arizmendi Bakery in Oakland, Calif., where he helped to grow the business by 400%, while simultaneously creating internal structures that solidified operations and governance. Earlier in his career, he served as an Operational Support Associate at the eight-member Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives (AAC), where his team successfully brought back one partner from the brink of disbanding to being a profitable business with solid internal systems, processes, and high morale.
Meet Jeremy White:
Jeremy White is a technologist that has worked with open source software and operating system level technology for the past 30 years. He is the founder of CodeWeavers, Inc., the corporate sponsor of the open source Wine Project. The Wine project provides the ability to use Windows applications on UNIX like systems, including macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS. The Wine project is directly responsible for the success of Valve's SteamDeck and is the technology powering Apple's Game Porting Toolkit.
Jeremy served as CEO of CodeWeavers for 27 years and exited CodeWeavers by establishing an employee ownership trust, providing for the long term health of the staff, customers and community surrounding the company.
Jeremy is a graduate from Carleton College in Northfield, MN and an active volunteer with the FIRST robotics organization.