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Reviving the American Dream

Published on Dec. 11th, 2025

Published on Dec. 11th, 2025

Over the past few years, we’ve been fortunate to play a part in shepherding nearly 100 small businesses (worth over $300M) into the next generation of owner-operators. These businesses are located across the country and represent the breadth of the American small business economy, from local auto shops to metal fabricators to critical government contractors. The individuals we’ve backed have been the type of people you want to bet on: high integrity, strong work ethic, and community-oriented. Many of them are military veterans and successful industry operators.

In order to scale our early impact, we knew we needed to take more ownership around the transaction, while giving everyday Americans a way to participate. After months of work behind the scenes, we are proud to bring you American Operator.

Over the past few years, we’ve been fortunate to play a part in shepherding nearly 100 small businesses (worth over $300M) into the next generation of owner-operators. These businesses are located across the country and represent the breadth of the American small business economy, from local auto shops to metal fabricators to critical government contractors. The individuals we’ve backed have been the type of people you want to bet on: high integrity, strong work ethic, and community-oriented. Many of them are military veterans and successful industry operators.

In order to scale our early impact, we knew we needed to take more ownership around the transaction, while giving everyday Americans a way to participate. After months of work behind the scenes, we are proud to bring you American Operator.

Introducing American Operator

American Operator is reviving the American Dream by transitioning great small businesses to the next generation of local ownership.

We acquire each business alongside a talented operator and allow our ownership to be incrementally bought back until the business is majority-owned by that operator.

This approach to small business acquisitions achieves two things:

American Operator is reviving the American Dream by transitioning great small businesses to the next generation of local ownership.

We acquire each business alongside a talented operator and allow our ownership to be incrementally bought back until the business is majority-owned by that operator.

This approach to small business acquisitions achieves two things:

1

It removes the transaction and financing risks that often prevent small business owners and their advisors from choosing an individual over a buyout fund.

2

It allows us to focus on the local operators who are best equipped to lead the business, not buy it.

This model allows us to scale the number of businesses we transition, while achieving our goal of keeping these businesses locally owned and operated.

This model allows us to scale the number of businesses we transition, while achieving our goal of keeping these businesses locally owned and operated.

Building a Movement that Celebrates the American Dream

Many Americans think the American Dream is dead. If you listen to mainstream media, you may find yourself agreeing. But venture out on Main Street, and you’ll see a dramatically more optimistic picture.

At American Operator, our mission statement is to prove the American Dream is alive and drive more people to achieve it. There is no purer expression of this dream than business ownership.

We see this play out on a daily basis. As we partner with retiring owners, we have a firsthand look at the impact they’ve made and the millions of dollars in value they’ve built in small businesses across the country. At the same time, we are able to back the next generation of hardworking individuals as they make theirs.

At a time when home ownership may feel out of reach, cable news spreads fear and despair, and the future of AI brings uncertainty, we celebrate the men and women working to build a better tomorrow, for their families, their communities, and their country.

However, our movement does not end with retiring owners and the operators we partner with.

Many Americans think the American Dream is dead. If you listen to mainstream media, you may find yourself agreeing. But venture out on Main Street, and you’ll see a dramatically more optimistic picture.

At American Operator, our mission statement is to prove the American Dream is alive and drive more people to achieve it. There is no purer expression of this dream than business ownership.

We see this play out on a daily basis. As we partner with retiring owners, we have a firsthand look at the impact they’ve made and the millions of dollars in value they’ve built in small businesses across the country. At the same time, we are able to back the next generation of hardworking individuals as they make theirs.

At a time when home ownership may feel out of reach, cable news spreads fear and despair, and the future of AI brings uncertainty, we celebrate the men and women working to build a better tomorrow, for their families, their communities, and their country.

However, our movement does not end with retiring owners and the operators we partner with.

Giving Everyday Americans A Share in the Upside

We are building American Operator with a clear destination in mind: becoming a publicly listed company. While many companies aspire to be publicly listed for the name recognition or payday, this is a critical part of achieving our long-term plan and a true alignment with our mission.

The ideal source of funding for our acquisitions is not large Wall Street firms, but everyday Americans. This creates direct alignment between the interests of our companies, our communities, and our shareholders.

Not only does this align our financing with our mission, but it gives us the broad base of support that we need to succeed. Some firms may look at retail investors as a distraction. At American Operator, these supporters will be critical allies, helping us identify businesses in their communities in search of successors, and the high-potential operators needed to lead them.

An investment in American Operator represents a direct share in the exceptional small businesses we steward, and a stake in the American Dream.

We are building American Operator with a clear destination in mind: becoming a publicly listed company. While many companies aspire to be publicly listed for the name recognition or payday, this is a critical part of achieving our long-term plan and a true alignment with our mission.

The ideal source of funding for our acquisitions is not large Wall Street firms, but everyday Americans. This creates direct alignment between the interests of our companies, our communities, and our shareholders.

Not only does this align our financing with our mission, but it gives us the broad base of support that we need to succeed. Some firms may look at retail investors as a distraction. At American Operator, these supporters will be critical allies, helping us identify businesses in their communities in search of successors, and the high-potential operators needed to lead them.

An investment in American Operator represents a direct share in the exceptional small businesses we steward, and a stake in the American Dream.

Answer the call

Before we are ready to be public, we need to increase the scale of our portfolio. If you care about the future of Main Street and want to help us prove the American Dream can still be achieved, here’s how you can help:

1

For retiring owners

If you’ve built an exceptional small business and want to ensure it lives on in the hands of a deserving successor, please reach out. We would be honored to partner with you. You can learn more here or schedule a meeting with our team.

2

For current or retired owners

As part of each acquisition, we bring in a seasoned owner in that industry to serve as an advisor to the operator and join the board. If you’ve earned your scars and want to help guide future owner-operators, please give us some information about your expertise here.

3

For aspiring owners

If you’ve spent years on the shop floor and are ready to become an owner, reach out to us. We are looking for high-integrity, hardworking and deserving individuals to lead businesses with us. Learn more here.

4

For everyday supporters

Whether it’s referring an owner for equity or cash, or rocking our swag, there are a number of ways to get involved today. We also have some exciting news on the horizon, so please subscribe to our email updates below.

Generations of American business owners have proven you can make it here, while doing right by your community. By bringing investment and ownership home, we can renew that promise.

The American Dream is still alive. American Operator will prove it, one business at a time.

Sincerely,

William Fry

Founder & CEO of American Operator

Join Us!

Whether you’re a retiring owner, an operator ready to own, or a supporter of keeping Main Street locally owned, please share a bit about yourself and how you'd like to get involved.

Join Us!

Whether you’re a retiring owner, an operator ready to own, or a supporter of keeping Main Street locally owned, please share a bit about yourself and how you'd like to get involved.

Join Us!

Whether you’re a retiring owner, an operator ready to own, or a supporter of keeping Main Street locally owned, please share a bit about yourself and how you'd like to get involved.

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