NETI announces fellowship inaugural cohort to expand exit planning support for small businesses

March 25, 2024 – Northampton, MA – The Northeast Transition Initiative (NETI), a partnership of organizations whose mission is to expand the knowledge, resources and tools needed to support exit planning for business owners and transitions to employee ownership, selected 18 fellows from across the small business ecosystem of New England and New York State to join its inaugural NETI Fellowship Program cohort.

The 9-month-long fellowship, which kicked off in February, will move fellows through a curriculum and projects that help each participant develop a strategic, region-specific model to support businesses and business owners in navigating the exit planning process and the employee ownership option.

A wave of baby boomer business owners are looking to retire in the next few years, threatening jobs and the stability of the economy within the communities their businesses serve. Organizations that provide services to business owners have great expertise in growing businesses but are not always equipped to answer questions or provide assistance for those looking for ways to exit a business. Employee ownership is a proven strategy to preserve critical businesses and jobs and provide wealth building opportunities for workers who are often left behind.

We are pleased to announce the NETI Fellowship’s inaugural cohort representing organizations from across New England and New York:

Aviva Gold
Director of Marketing and Communications at CITEC Business Solutions

Christopher Hunter
Director of Advisory Services at Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF)

Elijah Miller
Director of Policy at the City of Boston’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion

Participating fellows not pictured:

• William Fitzgerald, Lead Program Coordinator at Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC)
• Brandon McDonald, Regional Hub Coordinator at Northern Maine Development Commission
• Elsabel Rincon, Business Development Lending Officer at Mill Cities Community Investments

“Exit planning is critical when it comes to building wealth as a small business owner and maintaining community wealth in the form of vibrant local businesses,” said Elijah Miller, Director of Policy at the City of Boston’s Office of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion. “I’m excited to be part of the Northeast Transition Initiative Fellowship because NETI has brought together a fantastic team of local and regional business-serving organizations that can see how the risk of unplanned business exits has hurt our communities and we’re motivated to help small business owners recognize that exit planning and employee ownership are excellent wealth management options to consider for themselves and for their family and community.”

 “Within the next few months, businesses across the entirety of the Berkshires will be invited to provide crucial input to shape how the NETI fellowship can bring beneficial impacts to businesses and the economy in our region,” said Ben Lamb, Vice President of 1Berkshires. “As the project takes shape, further engagement with businesses and resource providers in the County will be critical to make it as meaningful and useful as possible as we seek to curb the impending wave of businesses considering closure without a transition plan. There is no silver bullet to preventing business closures in today’s economic landscape, but I am ecstatic to have been selected to participate in the NETI program to help contribute one more piece of the puzzle here in the Berkshires.”

“I am grateful to have the opportunity to represent Central New York and the New York Small Business Development Centers in this inaugural cohort of the NETI Fellowship,” said Robert Griffin, Regional Director at the Onondaga Regional Small Business Development Center. “Small business owners across our region are nearing a time when education and the support ecosystem of NETI Fellowship partners will be critical for navigating the natural process of exit planning and ownership transition. Now is that pivotal moment where we can begin to change the tide of pointless business closures in an effort to preserve valuable jobs and our small business economic fabric.”

About the Northeast Transition Initiative (NETI)

NETI is a partnership of organizations and lenders with deep experience in exit-planning and ownership transitions. We share a common goal of equipping small businesses with the tools, resources, and knowledge to support successful exit planning and a seamless transition to employee ownership. In doing so, we believe we can preserve jobs and businesses, increase wealth-building opportunities for employees, and ensure a more prosperous economy across the Northeast. Visit us to learn more: https://ownershiptransition.org/

This project is a partnership of:

• Cooperative Development Institute
• Cooperative Fund of the Northeast
• Adirondack North Country Association
• Apis & Heritage Capital Partners
• Boston Impact Initiative
• Democracy at Work Institute
• ICA Group
• Mill Cities Community Investments
• Vermont Employee Ownership Center

This project is made possible through funding from Wells Fargo.