Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Business succession and transition planning, business retention and expansion (BR&E) in particular and community economic development in general.
Personal profile
Michael has managed the Extension Department of Community Development's Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) programs for many years. Since 2021 he has led Extension's Business Succession and Transition programming and research. Recently, he created The Minnesota Business Succession and Transition Study of employer businesses with 5-500 employees.
Through the Connecting Businesses and Community program (i.e. Extension’s BRE model), he provides consulting and applied research for Minnesota communities. He cooperates with Extension educators and U of MN specialists on BRE initiatives and other community economics programs and research. He co-teaches BRE courses (online and in-person) for economic development professionals and stakeholders in the USA and internationally.
Michael created a special BRE issue of Community Development, Journal of the Community Development Society 48:2, May, 2017. It was published (2019) as a hard-cover book, Business Retention and Expansion (BRE): A Practical Approach to Economic Development (ISBN: 978-0-367-17361-6) in the Community Development - Current Issues series. Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), Oxfordshire, England.
Michael was the department's first community economics program leader from 2004–2010, when he served as supervisor, coach and convener for nine Extension educators.
Before joining Extension, Michael spent 10 years in local economic development positions with both urban nonprofit organizations and county governments. He also has experience in commercial banking, corporate finance and marketing.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research Interest Keywords
- Business retention & expansion, BR&E, community economics, economic development, community engagement
- Business succession & transition
- Business Succession Planning
- BRE
- economic development
- Exit planning
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Twin Cities Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Update
Hofstedt, B. C. (PI), King, E. W. (Co-Principal Investigator), Darger, M. P. (Other Role), Leys, K. R. (Other Role), Narvaez, G. E. (Other Role), Quick, K. (Other Role) & Tuck, B. A. (Other Role)
3/1/25 → 10/1/25
Project: Research project
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CARES Act Supplemental Award for Univ of MN EDA Center
Schwartau, B. W. (PI), Darger, M. P. (CoI), LeMier, D. A. (CoI), Linscheid, N. (CoI), Qian, X. (CoI) & Tuck, B. A. (CoI)
7/1/20 → 6/30/22
Project: Research project
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Retaining Rural Businesses by Transitioning to Cooperative Ownership
Darger, M. P. (PI)
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, USDA Nat'l Inst. of Food & Agriculture
10/1/19 → 8/31/20
Project: Research project
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Understanding District 2 Manufacturers' Perspectives on Transportation: An Industry Cluster Approach
Douma, F. P. (PI), Bennett, J. F. (CoI), Bhattacharyya, R. A. (CoI), Bussiere, M. (CoI), Darger, M. P. (CoI), Munnich, L. W. (CoI) & Schmit, M. (Prior Principal Investigator)
MN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
7/13/15 → 6/30/19
Project: Research project
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Understanding District 4 Manufacturers??? Perspectives o
Douma, F. P. (PI), Pesch, R. W. (CoI), Bhattacharyya, R. A. (Other Role), Darger, M. P. (Other Role), Kane, M. (Other Role) & Munnich, L. W. (Other Role)
MN DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
9/18/14 → 5/31/15
Project: Research project
Research output
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How Well are Business Owners Preparing for Succession and Transition?
Darger, M., Jun 25 2024, In: Entrepreneur and Innovation Exchange.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Podcast: Original Succession Planning Research: Michael Darger • Extension Specialist
Darger, M. P. (Other), Oct 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
Open Access -
The Minnesota Business Succession and Transition (BST) Study
Darger, M. P., 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Data set/Database
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The Minnesota Business Succession and Transition (BST) Study business owner survey data
Darger, M. P. (Artist), Petal, A. (Other) & Lasway, J. (Other), May 15 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Data set/Database
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Webinar recording: How Ready are Owners for Business Succession and Transition?
Darger, M. P., 2024Research output: Non-textual form › Digital or Visual Products
Open Access
Datasets
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BR&E Benchmarks - Sharing more than 20 years of BR&E interview data with the field of economic development
Darger, M. P. & Tremper, J., University of Minnesota Extension, Extension Center for Community Vitality, Dec 14 2015
DOI: 10.13020/D6V88Z , http://www.extension.umn.edu/community/business-retention/research-development/benchmarks/
Dataset
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Business Retention and Expansion Aggregated Data
Darger, M. P., Data Repository for the University of Minnesota, 2015
DOI: 10.13020/D6V88Z, http://dx.doi.org/10.13020/D6V88Z
Dataset