Fairfield entrepreneurs hope to connect retiring business owners with next generation

FAIRFIELD – A new business has sprouted in Fairfield that seeks to facilitate the buying and selling of businesses.

Fairfield residents Jordi Quevedo-Valls and Kim Sinton founded Broker Edge Inc. in the hopes of connecting business owners who are looking to retire or sell their business with those who want to pick up the torch. They said that, as more Baby Boomers retire in the coming years, succession plans will play an increasingly important role in the economy.

“Half of all business owners don’t know you can sell a business,” Quevedo-Valls said.

Sinton said there is a disconnect between the older generation of Baby Boomers and the younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z. He said those younger generations are often unaware that they can use Small Business Administration loans to purchase a business.

“Ideally, we want that Boomer generation to coach and mentor the young generation,” Sinton said. “Some of the businesses we’ve talked to in town have said, ‘I’m willing to sell my business, but it’s going to take several years of mentoring or apprenticing with me.’ We want to see that knowledge transfer from the older to the younger generation, instead of these businesses not getting sold or selling to private equity.”

Quevedo-Valls said he feels that helping retiring business owners find a buyer is good for society, because if they can’t find anyone to take over, they have to close their business and their employees are out of a job.

“We teach that whenever you acquire a business, always keep the staff no matter what,” he said. “The staff are very important, and it’s not just their skillsets and knowledge, but also their relationships with existing customers.”

Quevedo-Valls and Sinton said they are starting out by working with businesses in Southeast Iowa and then the rest of the state, and eventually they plan to grow their business so it’s serving a national clientele.

Quevedo-Valls is a native of Fairfield who moved with his family to Mozambique in Africa at the age of 10, where he attended international schools. He is a graduate of Boston University with a degree in economics. He’s worked in high finance around the country, including for Goldman Sachs.

Sinton was born in Ireland and grew up in South Africa. He has worked as an entrepreneur and in the tech industry, including a Fairfield start-up called Dove Solutions. He has worked in Silicon Valley for companies such as Apple and Paramount.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com