38% of NYC Business Owners Expect to Retire Within a Decade. A New Grant Push Targets Who Takes Over

NEW YORK — Many of the city’s corner stores, repair shops, restaurants and family service businesses are run by owners nearing retirement. What happens to those businesses, and the jobs inside them, is the focus of a new grant program from the NY Small Business Funders Collective.

The Collective, a group of eight funders that includes JPMorganChase, M&T Bank, the Principal Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, Santander Bank, the MetLife Foundation, Capital One and BankUnited, launched its “Successful Succession Grant Program” on Oct. 16, according to its announcement. The program cites a 2026 JPMorganChase survey finding that 38% of New York City business owners are expected to retire within the next 10 years.

The Numbers Behind the Push

The Collective’s grant guidelines lay out why it chose this focus:

• Nationally, an estimated 12 million businesses and $10 trillion to $14 trillion in business assets will change hands over the next decade as owners retire, a shift often called the “Great Ownership Transfer.”
• Census Bureau data show that 52.3% of U.S. employer businesses are owned by people 55 or older.
• A third of U.S. business owners have no succession plan, and another 22% plan to simply close when they retire.
• In New York City, solo business owners, the fastest-growing segment, are the least likely to have a stable transition plan.
• Business closures in the city have outpaced openings in three of the last five quarters, the guidelines say, citing the Center for an Urban Future.

The Collective also notes that rising rent, insurance, utility and supply costs leave owners with less time and money to plan an exit.

What the Grants Pay For

The grants go to nonprofits, not directly to businesses. A 501(c)(3) organization, or a fiscally sponsored group, serving the five boroughs must lead each application in partnership with at least one other community group. Partners can include capital providers, public agencies, small businesses and other nonprofits.

Key details from the guidelines:

• Award size: expected to range from $100,000 to $150,000 a year, as multi-year grants, with second-year funding pending.
• Focus: projects that build a pipeline of businesses ready to be sold, a pipeline of buyers ready to finance a purchase, and better systems for connecting the two.
• Models of interest: entrepreneurship through acquisition, where a person buys an existing business; employee ownership conversions; worker cooperatives; valuation improvement; and community-centered search funds.
• Target businesses: no size cap, but a particular interest in micro and small businesses with annual revenue under $1 million.
• Limits: grant money can’t be used for direct lending or capital.
• Timeline: applications are due Dec. 11, 2026. Finalist interviews are planned for March 1-5, 2027, with funding decisions expected the week of April 12, 2027.

The Collective says it hopes to fund one project per borough but is open to groups serving several boroughs. Applicants can send questions to inquiries@nysmallbusinessfunders.org. The Collective says it will post an FAQ on its website.

What Owners Can Do Now

The grant program won’t produce new services until next spring at the earliest. Owners thinking about retirement don’t have to wait.

Call Owner to Owners. The city’s Owner to Owners hotline, run by members of the Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative with funding from the City Council in coordination with the Department of Small Business Services, gives free guidance to owners exploring a sale to their employees. The number is (646) 363-6592. Through the city’s Employee Ownership NYC program, services can include an initial consultation, a fit assessment, succession planning, an estimate of business value, a readiness assessment, help finding financing if eligible, guidance through the sale and training for staff.

Consider your employees as buyers. Owner to Owners says selling to employees can offer a fair market price, no broker fees, tax benefits, a flexible timeline and terms, and possible financing for the purchase. It also says 70% to 80% of owners have trouble finding buyers when they are ready to exit.

Start early. A sale takes time. Clean financial records, written processes and a business that doesn’t depend entirely on the owner’s personal relationships generally make a company easier to value and sell. An accountant and a lawyer can help you weigh the tax and legal consequences of each option.

Talk to your local Business Solutions Center. The Department of Small Business Services runs free Business Solutions Centers across the boroughs, and its new mobile unit, “Mobie,” brings consultations into neighborhoods, according to an SBS announcement.

For Would-Be Buyers

The program also aims to build a bench of buyers. For founders who would rather buy a business than start one, the Collective’s focus on acquisition readiness and community search funds suggests more training and matchmaking may be on the way. Watch for the nonprofits chosen after the Collective makes its funding decisions in April.

Entrepreneurs Of New York is an independent publication and is not affiliated with the NY Small Business Funders Collective or its members.