The Watershed Nursery transitions to employee ownership with support from Project Equity
The Watershed Nursery, a leading provider of quality native plant materials and restoration services in Northern and Central California, is proud to announce its transition to a worker cooperative. Founded in 2001 by Diana Benner and Laura Hanson, The Watershed Nursery has long been a cornerstone for local habitat restoration efforts. This transition to employee ownership reflects the nursery’s commitment to both ecological and community sustainability.
The Watershed Nursery, centrally located in the Bay Area, serves a diverse clientele that includes individual homeowners, installation contractors, government agencies and nonprofits dedicated to habitat restoration. The nursery offers a comprehensive range of services, including the collection of native seeds, propagation, project monitoring and ongoing maintenance of restoration sites.
The decision to transition to an employee-owned business began in 2019 when Laura and Diana recognized that the cooperative model aligned seamlessly with the nursery’s mission of fostering healthy ecosystems. “The community structure of an employee-owned business is in line with the nursery’s general mission of building and contributing to healthy ecosystems, which, of course, includes people too,” the founders noted. After Laura and Diana introduced the idea of employee ownership to their employees, the employees agreed that they wanted to preserve and continue the nursery’s mission and were willing to dedicate the hard work, time, and energy necessary to transition the business to a cooperative model.
Project Equity was instrumental in guiding The Watershed Nursery through this transition. In addition to hands-on consulting, Project Equity helped finance the sale through their Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund. The fund also provided a forgivable loan which supported the inclusion of translation services during the transition process, ensuring that language justice is a foundational element in the cooperative’s culture. This commitment guarantees that all workers are meaningfully engaged and can fully participate in and benefit from shared ownership.
Laura Flores, a Senior Client Services Manager at Project Equity shared her thoughts on the transition process. “I loved supporting the Watershed transition team. From the first conversation, Diana and Laura highlighted the business’s strong mission. Throughout the process they prioritized a mindful conversion process that engaged all their workers, including providing translation services for their Spanish-speaking workers. This approach will not only ensure that the mission will continue beyond the tenure of the selling owners, it also ensures all the workers can equitably access the benefits of employee-ownership.”
