Carry on the Legacy - Vermont's Retiring Baby Boomer Business Owners

A couple of retiring Baby Boomers—owners of two separate iconic businesses located in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom—make me question: Will Vermont’s traditional business landscape survive the largest demographic shift of business ownership in recent history?

For years now economists have been pointing to the time when an estimated 78 million Baby Boomers—the largest demographic bubble in recent history—will retire, forever changing the face of business in America. One part of the business world where this trend will have serious implications is the ranks of retiring Baby Boomer Business Owners—an estimated 10–16 million current business owners now spread across the country.

Exactly how many boomer-owned companies are in Vermont is unclear, but when within a few miles of each other, two separate companies go on the market due to retiring Baby Boomer Owners – it’s safe to say this shift is already impacting Vermont life. What’s more telling is that both of these companies are second-generation businesses that have operated for almost 50 years—no small accomplishment for any business today.

To be sure, these are not glitzy new tech companies, but they are the kind of salt of the earth enterprises that have populated Vermont’s small towns and rural landscapes for decades largely shaping the quality of our mostly rural economy and lifestyle. We’re talking about a plumbing and heating business with a history of selling wood and bio fuel stoves and heating systems; and an outdoor farm and field equipment dealer which has kept this areas’ farms, logging operations and outdoor businesses running for decades.

But let’s be clear—just because these are not trendy companies doesn’t mean they are not model enterprises—each in their own way. Decades of growing sales and profitability, droves of satisfied customers, up-to-date products lines, long-term supporters of their communities, green technologies, online marketing, the list of accomplishments here is long and deep.

So, if these are such great companies, you might be asking what’s the big concern here? Surely they’ll find happy new buyers to carry on their long legacy. Well, as the Business Broker of record for both companies, this is very much the outcome I'm hoping for. Yet, because of the background situation: two not so glitzy companies, located in small-town rural settings, in a state where a majority of younger workers move out of state for work, at a time when capital to purchase good business is still too scarce – really, what are the actual odds for a successful outcome here?

Update: 18 months after the above blog was first posted, both these companies have come off the market, due to lack of serious interest from potential buyers.  What does this mean?  Time will have to tell the whole storey, but for now it's clear that there are already many Baby Boomer Business Owners who are having to postpone their retirement, or worse - sell and liquidate their companies for pennies on the dollar- due to lack of qualified / motivated buyers in the market.  Such are the times we live in.

Comments

[James Morgan - Puritan Financial Advisor]

Exactly how many boomer-owned companies are in Vermont is unclear

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