Media Contact: PRESS RELEASE Rachael Zafer www.icagroup.org rzafer@icagroup.org 617.232.8765 x1116
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ICA Group Launches Keep the Doors Open Business Resilience Program
(New York, NY, May 2020) The ICA Group, a national nonprofit and leading expert on employee ownership, launched Keep the Doors Open, a business resilience program for businesses in New York City impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program supports businesses facing an unprecedented risk of closure by transitioning them to employee ownership—helping to preserve jobs, build community wealth, and preserve owners’ retirement savings.
One in five Americans have lost their jobs due to COVID-19, and the pandemic is expected to exacerbate the silver tsunami, the looming wave of business owners 55 and older facing retirement that currently own 77% of closely held businesses. When faced with the choice to take on more debt or close their doors, business owners that likely would have retired in 5-10 years may instead close in 5-10 weeks. Owners of all ages will also likely close their doors when the Paycheck Protection Program and other forgivable loans and grants dry up.
Keep the Doors Open is designed to prevent businesses from closing or laying off their workers, helping owners secure a fair price and successfully retire without taking on additional debt. The program provides businesses with professional advising and financing assistance, legal and operational support, business tools, and workforce training.
Employee ownership serves as a foundation for businesses throughout the world. There are currently over 6,000 employee-owned enterprises in the U.S. employing ten million people and include companies like Harpoon Brewery and Cooperative Home Care Associates in the Bronx. As a national consultancy, the ICA Group has helped companies throughout the United States successfully convert to employee ownership and has created and preserved over 10,000 jobs since its founding in 1977. ICA is poised to build a new generation of business owners while driving economic recovery in New York City.
Businesses in any industry located in one of the five boroughs of New York City that employ seven or more people are eligible to apply. Businesses that are owned or staffed by people of color, women, immigrants, or located in historically marginalized communities or communities experiencing disinvestment or displacement are encouraged to apply.
The Keep the Doors Open program is funded by the New York City Council and is administered by the NYC Department of Small Business Services.
Business owners interested in applying to the ICA Group’s Keep the Doors Open Business Resilience Program should submit an application by June 1. More information is available at www.icagroup.org/keepdoorsopen.
###
