After 124 years and three generations of family ownership, Coakley Home and Hardware has transferred to its employees. The business operates stores in Saranac Lake and Canton; workers completed the purchase from longtime owner Bill Coakley on October 30, when the company became an employee-owned cooperative.
The succession plan began taking shape in August 2024, when Coakley raised the possibility of selling the business to employees, according to the Cooperative Development Institute. Coakley, 76, is the third-generation owner of the family business. He is moving into semi-retirement as a consultant, rather than an owner. He did not want to sell to a large chain, and employees were offered the opportunity to purchase a portion of the company.
About 50 people work across the two stores, and more than 30 have become worker-owners, with membership continuing to grow, CDI reports. A worker-owner must be an employee, but employees are not required to buy in. Each owner has one share and one vote, and the owners elect the cooperative’s board each year. The board sets policy; store managers handle daily operations.
Workers Lead the New Cooperative
Diane Cullen, the company’s office manager for 37 years, is now president of the cooperative’s board. Coakley introduced her to the employee-ownership proposal in 2024; she has said the prospect initially seemed farfetched but later felt like an obvious path.
Justin Williams, whom Coakley recruited as a teenager, is co-CEO and a worker-owner in Saranac Lake. He told CDI that the transition helped protect about 50 jobs and keep the business operating for its workers and community. In Canton, Agnes White is store manager and co-CEO; she has described employees as taking ownership of the business.
The purchase was financed by a combination of lenders and Coakley, with the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast among the participants. Coakley has said employees can pay for their ownership stakes over time. He also said the business will retain its name and products, along with the character of its stores.
A Succession Challenge for Rural Businesses
The Cooperative Development Institute, which guided Coakley's through training, bylaws, governance structure and financing connections, frames the deal against a broader problem across the region. CDI says owners of roughly 200,000 small businesses throughout New England and New York State are nearing retirement in the next few years, yet only 17% have a documented exit plan. The group also notes that just one in five commercial business listings find a buyer, and fewer than one in five family-business transitions succeed — a risk that grows sharper for smaller, more rural operations, which CDI says are more likely to simply liquidate when an owner steps down.
CDI points to research showing employee-owned businesses tend to be more productive and profitable, create more jobs during good times and lay off fewer workers during downturns. Since launching its Business Ownership Solutions program in 2013, the organization says it has guided 32 businesses through conversions to worker-owned cooperatives, creating ownership opportunities for more than 560 employees and helping secure over $31 million in capital.
Coakley’s is not the region’s first employee-owned business transition. Ward Lumber, which dates to 1890, became a worker-owned cooperative after about 50 employees purchased the business, a transition described as the first of its kind in the region, according to the Press-Republican. CDI’s Robert Brown has said that many baby boomers who founded businesses are now reaching retirement age.
Ward Lumber’s Earlier Transition
Ward Lumber offers a nearby point of comparison: in 2021, employees purchased the business at its Jay and Malone locations as a worker-owned cooperative, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Both transitions put a longstanding North Country business in employees’ hands; one difference is that Jay Ward remained involved in operating Ward Lumber, while Coakley is moving into a consultant role.
Coakley, for his part, has said he expects worker co-op conversions to become more popular and important across the North Country, and has called employee ownership a model other businesses should adopt. Businesses interested in exploring the structure can contact Robert Brown at [email protected] or reach out to their local Small Business Development Center advisor. As for Williams, stepping into his new ownership role means more responsibility, and he has said he wants to keep the business going, according to a report in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
