Project Equity and Revolution Institute invite you to a citywide convening focused on how employee ownership can support business succession, retention, and long-term resilience across Chicago’s manufacturing sector.
As thousands of industrial business owners approach retirement, Chicago faces an urgent need for practical, turnkey succession strategies to keep companies operating and growing in the communities they serve. Employee ownership offers a proven, market-tested solution—one that preserves long-standing firms, protects good manufacturing jobs, rewards workers, and keeps dollars circulating locally.
On Thursday, February 26th, at Make City Incubator, we hope you will join us to learn more about Project Equity and Revolution Institute’s joint initiative to help manufacturing businesses stay rooted in Chicago and thrive through employee ownership.
The event will feature brief presentations followed by networking and informal conversation. During the program, we will:
- Introduce the Project Equity–Revolution Institute partnership and its dual focus on raising awareness and developing a pipeline of transition-ready businesses
- Highlight how EO offers a ready-made succession, retention, and growth strategy for industrial and manufacturing businesses
- Clarify the essential role that advisors, service providers, and business support organizations play in building long-term, self-sustaining demand for EO
- Preview upcoming 2026 events and concrete ways to stay engaged and partner with us
We’ve designed this convening for partners working across Chicago’s business support, economic development, and manufacturing ecosystems, including:
- Business advisors, including brokers, exit planners, CPAs, CFPs, wealth planners, attorneys and other advisors to small- and mid-sized businesses
- Economic development and small business support organizations
Manufacturing and industrial-focused service providers - Local chambers of commerce and trade associations
- Civic and community leaders interested in learning more about employee ownership
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Tyler Rivera, Manager of Ecosystem Development at Project Equity (tyler@project-equity.org) or Sequane Lawrence, President & CEO at Revolution Institute (sequane@therevolution.institute).
About the Speakers:
Project Equity is a national NPO that helps businesses transition to employee ownership models. Their work focuses on keeping local businesses in community hands, preserving quality jobs, and wealth building for workers.
Revolution Institute is a Chicago-based community economic development organization that promotes cooperative wealth-building. It incubates and supports worker cooperatives and other shared-ownership businesses, with a focus on closing the racial wealth gap in Chicago.
