Published August 6, 2025
Worker ownership is a proven strategy for helping owners of businesses retire well while helping to build wealth opportunities for workers, many of whom historically have been left out of opportunities for ownership. The Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University interviewed Todd Leverette and Kyle Chin-How of Apis & Heritage (A&H) to learn about how they are helping to make it easier for owners to sell their businesses to workers. Check out highlights from the podcast below and click play to hear the complete episode. To tune in to more episodes of Owners at Work, visit the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, here.
Listen to the episode:
Highlights from the episode:
- Creating wealth building opportunities for workers: Apis & Heritage has raised $58 million in funding for worker ownership transitions from private investors who are interested in bringing a positive impact to communities. With those funds, A&H helped 450 workers become owners of businesses and transferred $65 million in enterprise capital to those worker-owners.
- Win-win for business owners and for workers: For owners of businesses who want to retire, worker ownership can be a great option. It allows selling owners to walk away with the value of the business, while having the peace of mind knowing that they are taking care of the workers who helped the business be successful, and that their business legacy will live on after they retire.
- Worker ownership builds stronger businesses: A&H believes that worker ownership transitions, when done the right way, make for better, more resilient businesses. Worker-owned businesses are proven to fare better than traditional businesses during hard economic times, while also performing better during the good times. They make great investments and make our country’s economy stronger.
- Making the process easy: Apis & Heritage “quarterbacks” the process of worker ownership transitions. They help finance the worker buyouts but also partners with the business for 5 years, helping them to grow sustainably and empower workers and leadership.
- Filling the capital gap: Why aren’t there more worker-owned businesses? A&H believes that the main obstacle for business owners who want to sell to their workers is the gap in capital. That’s where A&H comes in.
- Investors are making big bets on worker ownership: Apis & Heritage’s fundraising experience has shown that investors have a ton of interest in funding the worker-ownership model. When they were raising their first fund, they aimed to raise $35 million, but due to large interest, they ended up lifting that cap and were able to raise $58 million. Now, they’re fundraising for their second fund with a goal of reaching $250 million. They closed on their first of three rounds in June and already raised $85 million.
- Reach out to learn more: Apis & Heritage is looking to help more companies in construction, manufacturing, home healthcare and service industries transition to worker ownership. Specifically, they are looking for businesses that generate at least $4 million EBITA, and have at least 10 years of operating history and at least 40 employees.
Are you a business owner who is interested in learning more about worker ownership as an exit or growth strategy? Are you a person or organization that works with small business owners who want to learn about worker ownership as an exit option? Reach out to us!