After the 2001 economic crash in Argentina, around 200 bankrupt and closed-down business were occupied and then taken over by their workers. Most of these workers formed cooperatives to manage the business without the boss, and run it themselves. Eventually, dozens of these "recovered" businesses were granted legal recognition by the government, which used eminent domain to transfer ownership from the original owners to the worker coops, giving a 20-year mortgage at favorable lending terms.

As it turns out, "recovered" businesses are doing rather well. They've discovered that the previous owners were pretty much unnecessary for running the business; ditto with top management. Most of the working people are paid at least as well as they were before the takeover, and many are getting paid more. In any case, it seems to be a good way to put a business back to work quickly, in a way that preserves peoples' jobs. Basically, the state settles the bankruptcy on its terms, in effect nationalizing the business, and then appoints the productive workers to run it. Perhaps the 20-year loan could be based on the amount of the outstanding credit settlement.

I've been in Argentina recently, and conducted interviews with workers at many of these businesses for the dissertation I am writing. I would love to make contact with someone among the Republic workers, and make sure they know about what's going on in Argentina. I could even share some Argentine contacts with recovered businesses, so they could swap notes. In any case, someone should let them know about this model for keeping a business from shutting down. A good lawyer and a sympathetic city council could make this happen here.