Iowa Center for Employee Ownership excels
Iowa Center for Employee Ownership excels
Supporting local businesses and earning national recognition
For nearly 40 years, UNI’s Business & Community Services (BCS) division has delivered wide-ranging, impactful outreach programs across Iowa’s 99 counties. Now, a newer initiative is earning national recognition for its support of small and mid-sized, often family-owned businesses.
Launched in 2023, the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership (IA-CEO) provides education and direct assistance to businesses exploring transitions to employee ownership. The center recently became the 21st state center in a national employee ownership network.
Stacy Mullinex, senior program manager with Advance Iowa (the BCS program overseeing IA-CEO), said that while there is a growing interest in the benefits of employee ownership in the economic development field, misunderstanding remains among many business owners. Employee ownership can be effective for businesses of all sizes, but its transformative potential can be seen in small, family-owned businesses, particularly in rural areas.
A common scenario for these companies involves a retiring owner selling to an outside investor, leading to layoffs and the loss of a local economic engine. By contrast, employee ownership structures — employee shared ownership plans (ESOPs), employee ownership trusts (EOTs), and worker cooperatives being the most popular — offer a means to keep the business rooted locally. Research shows employee ownership empowers employees, preserves businesses and ensures the company continues to operate in alignment with the owner’s values.
“This approach circulates financial benefits within communities, raises wages, retains workers and builds employee wealth,” Mullinex said. “It addresses financial inequities, particularly in rural and underserved populations.”
Deb Giarusso, ʼ85, also a senior program manager with Advance Iowa, emphasized UNI’s growing role in supporting small and mid-sized business in Iowa.
“IA-CEO is rapidly becoming a key resource for Iowa businesses exploring employee ownership,” Giarusso said. “By building awareness of economic and social benefits, providing informative educational resources and collaborating with key stakeholders, IA-CEO empowers business owners to seriously consider employee ownership models … This center encourages businesses, employees and communities across Iowa to work together to sustain and grow economically resilient communities.”
Retirement Cliff Looms for Iowa’s Business Owners, Threatening Local Economies
51% of American business owners are 55 years or older
75% of business owners plan to exit their company in the next decade
70-80% of small businesses listed for sale go unsold, leading to financial losses and job displacement
Grants boost IA-CEO’s statewide impact
Public and private investments have fueled IA-CEO’s growth. Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grants helped launch IA-CEO’s work, while a 2024 award from the New York-based Ford Foundation is funding a three-year, $315,000 expansion of IA-CEO’s outreach, education and direct services to Iowa businesses. The grant will also enable a research partnership between the Rutgers University Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing and faculty in the Wilson College of Business.
IA-CEO receives USDA grant
A $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will expand IA-CEO’s education and outreach around worker cooperatives, another employee ownership model.
Employee ownership at work:
Cambrian Granite and Stone
Brothers Marc and Brent Schweer, ’98, owners of Cambrian Granite and Stone, credit the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership (IA-CEO) as a key resource in navigating their business succession plan.
Based in Cedar Falls and serving the Cedar Valley since 1997, Cambrian specializes in natural stone countertops for both residential and commercial clients. The Schweers took over the business in 2009, expanding its reach across Iowa and beyond.
Shifting their focus to the family farm, Brent and Marc were looking to sell and were drawn to employee ownership after learning that a longtime supplier operated as an ESOP. Last fall, they turned to IA-CEO for guidance.
“UNI was a great resource. Their expertise helped us understand the benefits and choose what option was right for us,” said Marc.
With the recent sale, Cambrian’s 14 employees now hold a greater stake in its future.
“Our employees built this company as much as Brent and I have,” Marc said. “We know we are leaving the company with an incredible group of people.”
