With millions of “baby boomer” enterprises poised for transition, the spotlight is on the next class set to shape the entrepreneurial landscape — and many aspiring business owners have their sights set on entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA).
“I’m not that guy — I’m not going to make some cool app that changes the world, or want to start anything from the ground up, but…there’s a number of these businesses across America, … where you’re helping society or you’re necessary for society. That’s always going to be needed,” said Tyrus Williams, who is earning a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) at Georgetown University. “I don’t care what happens in the world of AI — we need plumbers, and we need people to run plumbing businesses. And there’s a reason for being in ETA.”
While entrepreneurship remains a top catalyst for wealth creation, the push to boost ETA comes in a moment business experts are calling a “once in a generation opportunity” to create wealth, particularly among the 4% of Black entrepreneurs nationwide.
Coined the historic Silver Tsunami, studies show an unprecedented 6 million “baby boomer” businesses face ownership transitions by 2035, putting 12 million jobs and $5 trillion in enterprise value at stake, with no succession plan for about 30% of those projected to be hit.
Here in the DMV, business experts say the path forward requires a rebooted ecosystem that prioritizes sustainability along with the leadership that sets the tone for communities in which they serve.
“Creating wealth for individuals in and of itself is not charitable, but when we think about the impact they can have on their communities, and prevention of job losses,” said Chris Weaver, executive director of Community Development Investors (CDI). “We want to create a generation of entrepreneurs, at least as a community organization, that actually are going to be anchors for the community, that are thinking about how they treat their employees, about how they can create…anchors for opportunity for other people.”
During CDI’s 2026 Annual Conference in April, sponsored by Zelle and JP Morgan Chase, the vision was reinforced by a coalition of stakeholders, business and finance experts, and emerging entrepreneurs at the center— from keynote speaker Archie Jones to scholars like Williams — all driven by a collective vision to redefine business ownership and community impact.
More than that, beyond showing higher success rates, Zelle General Manager Denise Leonard said ETA offers a chance to reclaim the terms and conditions of the American dream, and what that looks like for all those in search.
“It’s not about buying things, it’s not about accruing wealth, but it’s actually about being able to live your entire financial lives,” she told The Informer, “having confidence, having flexibility, being able to make choices. And feeling just more secure with your overall financial life overall.”
The Good, the Bad, and the Tsunami
When it comes to shaping the future of generational wealth, Jones put it candidly: the average 9-to-5 won’t cut it in this economy.
The keynote speaker underscored the concentration of wealth in America, where the top 1% controls nearly half of the nation’s wealth, and almost half of families in the top 10% possess business equity.
Thus, he dawns the Silver Tsunami as more than a power play, but an opportunity to reframe the national strategy of inclusion.
“We’re not talking about a zero-sum game here, we’re talking about increasing the size of the pot,” Jones said. “Over 6 million jobs, 824 billion additional revenue, some of that in [the Black community].”
Where business experts agree, the mission requires a holistic view of how to sustain economic mobility across the board.
Jones emphasized a need to empower the next class of leaders by eliminating barriers to social and financial capital, be it addressing common threads of market failure, or boosting the “five C’s of entrepreneurship” –– capability, culture, communication, connection, and building the confidence to forge and stay on the journey.
On the cultural tip, he was clear: “This area may be new, but it’s not new to us as people.”
“Entrepreneurship is in your DNA,” Jones, a graduate of Morehouse College, told the room of HBCU scholars. “As a community, we know better than most how to stretch it out, how to get there, how to work through struggle. Stop thinking about that as a liability and think about that as an asset.”
Among the panelists and stakeholders present in the room, Carrie Cook, community affairs officer and vice president of community development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said fueling the entrepreneurial spirit requires the resources to back it up, particularly among rural or low-income neighborhoods where prosperity often amounts to what “side of the tracks” in which people reside.
While the District is considered a populous urban city, tackling the realities of “non-skilled-based efforts” is key to designing an ecosystem that thrives in longevity, she adds, just as much as it does in diversity.
“If we don’t address housing, we don’t address child care and health care, health care, population determinants of health, all these things that determine how people grow and how they prosper, then our efforts will move on out,” said the community developer.
The bigger picture, she later told The Informer, looks like prioritizing business impact beyond revenue and bridging the nationwide generational wealth gap –– a sentiment that notably resonated with Williams.
“I look at it as security first, optionality second,” Williams, 28, said. “You’re not stressed about how to
make the next mortgage payment…young Black kids knowing you have options in this world.”
Meanwhile, Jones says half the battle is education, while the other lies in the initiative that can move the needle forward.
“The USA needs us, needs you to solve this crisis, to capitalize on the opportunity,” Jones said on April 10. “You don’t have to start your business today, but I need you to start planning for when you’re going to.”
