FOR FUNDERS & PARTNERS

Capital that comes back

AllHold's capital is lent, not granted, and every dollar that returns funds the next transition.

Why it matters

PURPOSEBetter Job Quality

Nearly half (44%) of U.S. workers ages 18–64 earn low wages.1 Project Equity clients saw a 20% average wage increase after converting to employee ownership.2

Just over half (55%) of workers at small establishments have access to employer medical coverage, compared with 90% at large employers.3

Three-quarters of low-wage firms have annual turnover of 100% or more, compared with about one-third of high-wage firms.4 Worker-owners gain a voice in governance (how decisions get made, and who makes them), profit-sharing, and in-house training.

PLACEReal Estate Control

From 2004 to 2013, assessed values in Philadelphia's gentrifying neighborhoods rose an average of 42.9%, compared with 10.3% in other neighborhoods.5 AllHold targets these corridors (a neighborhood's main business streets) before displacement (longtime businesses and residents being pushed out) locks in.

Between 2000 and 2013, gentrification displaced more than 135,000 residents nationally.6

One Trust, Two Assets removes the real estate from the speculative market permanently.

PROSPERITYSmall Business Continuation

More than half (52.3%) of U.S. employer businesses are owned by people 55 and older.7

In 2022, 92% of small business exits ended in closure rather than a sale or transfer.8 AllHold's capital makes the deal financeable when no other buyer will step in.

Small and midsize businesses provide nearly 4 in 10 private-sector jobs in Philadelphia.9

Capital That Comes Back: A Guide for Funders and Partners

How AllHold works, what $10 million accomplishes, and how the capital comes back.

What $10 million accomplishes

What $10 million accomplishes

A projection grounded in the actual economics of five real Philadelphia opportunities, not hypothetical assumptions.

Where the $10M goes

$7.4MLoan capitalDeployed and recoverable
$996KLegal and technical assistanceGrant-funded, never billed to the business
$1.5MOperations and staff15%

The ramp

Year 1

4 deals

Year 2

4 deals

Year 3

5 deals

Year 4

5 deals

Year 5

6 deals

Projected result

24Businesses transitioned over 5 years
142Jobs saved
5 yrsTo full deployment

Projections based on the average deal size across five profiled Philadelphia opportunities. Detailed deal and return information is available to funders on request.

How the capital recycles

  • Loan capital is lent, not granted, and is repaid over each loan's term.

  • Interest income is program income, reinvested in technical assistance for future businesses, not extracted (money that leaves the neighborhood instead of staying in it) as private profit.

  • Legal and technical assistance is grant-funded and never repaid or priced into a deal.

  • As capital returns, it redeploys into new transitions, so the same dollar converts more than one business over the life of the fund.

Theory of change

Theory of change

AllHold converts profitable local businesses and their real estate into permanent, worker-centered community assets by aligning capital, ownership, and governance.

INPUTS

  • Blended acquisition capital: a mix of loans, grants, and investment from different sources, including program-related investments (foundation loans and investments made to advance their mission), mission-aligned debt, and equity

  • Profitable operating small businesses

  • Business-occupied commercial real estate

  • Employee Ownership Trust legal structure

  • Technical assistance, transition, and governance support

ACTIVITIES

  • Acquire operating businesses and occupied real estate at fair-market value (the price a typical buyer would pay)

  • Place both assets into a single Employee Ownership Trust

  • Establish shared governance with worker representation

  • Provide ongoing technical assistance and management infrastructure

  • Implement profit-sharing and performance-based, flexible repayment

  • Enable long-term real estate refinancing into lower-cost capital

OUTCOMES

  • Workers become trust beneficiaries (the people the trust exists to benefit: the employees) without personal buy-in or debt

  • Wage growth, profit-sharing, improved benefits, and governance voice

  • Higher productivity and strong employee retention

  • Stable operating costs, including rent

  • Flexible debt service aligned with business performance

  • Reduced risk of business closure or displacement

IMPACT

  • Workers build long-term economic security and mobility

  • Profitable businesses remain locally rooted and resilient

  • Jobs stay local with high retention and job quality

  • Essential businesses continue to anchor commercial corridors

  • Real estate remains under community-controlled ownership

  • Local wealth circulates instead of being extracted

Our partners

Built with ecosystem partners

AllHold works alongside lenders, community development corporations, corridor managers, small business advisors, and legal counsel. Each deal draws on the partners best suited to that business and that place.

We're starting in Philadelphia, but AllHold is built as a national model, designed to be replicated in communities across the country.

Are you a real estate agent or broker?

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SOURCES

  1. Ross, M., & Bateman, N. (2019, November). Meet the low-wage workforce. Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/meet-the-low-wage-workforce/
  2. Project Equity. Client impact data. https://project-equity.org/impact/publications/
  3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024, September 19). Employee benefits in the United States, March 2024 (USDL-24-1921). https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ebs2_09192024.pdf
  4. Andersson, F., Holzer, H. J., & Lane, J. I. (2003, October). Worker advancement in the low-wage labor market: The importance of “good jobs.” The Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/worker-advancement-in-the-low-wage-labor-market-the-importance-of-good-jobs/
  5. Ding, L., & Hwang, J. (2020). Effects of gentrification on homeowners: Evidence from a natural experiment (Working Paper No. 20-16). Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-papers/2020/wp20-16.pdf
  6. Richardson, J., Mitchell, B., & Franco, J. (2019). Shifting neighborhoods: Gentrification and cultural displacement in American cities. National Community Reinvestment Coalition. https://ncrc.org/gentrification/
  7. Rothwell, J. (2025, March 24). Most small-business owners lack a succession plan. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/657362/small-business-owners-lack-succession-plan.aspx
  8. Yearwood, K., Stewart, S., III, Marks, N., & Noel, N. (2026, February 26). The Great Ownership Transfer: A new era of business stewardship. McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility. https://www.mckinsey.com/institute-for-economic-mobility/our-insights/the-great-ownership-transfer-a-new-era-of-business-stewardship
  9. The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2020, August). Philadelphia’s small and midsize business landscape. https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2020/08/philadelphias-small-and-midsize-business-landscape

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