Government Issues and Politics
Insurance and Employee Benefits
Business and Economic Info
Human Resources and Safety
Education Policies and Practicies
Training and Consulting Services
Welcome to CBIA's Training and Consulting site!
Small Business Human Resources Workforce Development Your Questions Answered Success Stories

May 2006 — Vol. 84, No. 4

SMALL BUSINESS

Where family businesses learn from, and support, one another

Center brings family-owned businesses together for mutual help, learning

By Debra Susca

Freelance writer in Portland

As the head of a family business, chances are you’re an entrepreneur whose vision has been the company’s driving force. You haven’t needed radical thinkers; you’ve got that covered. What you’ve needed are good soldiers. Now you’d like to retire, but you suddenly realize your children working in the business have been trained to be good soldiers, not leaders. What do you do?

If you’re among the 70 family businesses from throughout the state that are members of the Center for Family Business, you and your children turn to the center. That’s where you can get support from the staff and the other business owners who meet regularly to discuss issues unique to family businesses.

“Many family-owned companies have the feeling that they’re family and [that] everything will all work out,” says Paul Sessions, director of the center, which is affiliated with the University of New Haven. “And many times it doesn’t.” When you consider that 80% to 90% of companies in the United States are family-owned, there’s good reason to help these companies be successful.

Therein lies the mission of the center. Founded in 1994, it fosters the health and continuity of family businesses, with an eye toward strengthening the economic base of Connecticut. It serves Connecti-cut family-owned businesses ranging from small mom-and-pop shops to $300 million-a-year operations. It provides educational, networking and confidential sharing opportunities that enable companies to learn from, and support, one another.

Family-business owners “want to talk with their peers and share ideas, and support and advise one another,” says Sessions, who helped run his own family’s business for 17 years. “Family business is a very interesting place to be. There are so many unique issues and components. The center seeks to help families learn how to balance the well-being of the business, the family and the individuals involved.”

Cindy Bigelow, co-president (with her sister) of R.C. Bigelow, the tea company, has been a member for 10 years. “I get a lot out of it, and continue to after all these years. In fact, I’d say it’s a better resource to me now then it was at the beginning. They stay current and keep themselves vibrant, new and exciting.”

She says the eight large-group sessions the center offers throughout the year have been so thought-provoking and relevant that she now has her executive team attend. “They really put what they learn into action in the business,” she says.

The center has attracted internationally known speakers like Jason Jennings, who gave a seminar entitled “Think Big. Act Small,” and Stew Leonard Jr. of the Stew Leonard’s dairy and grocery store chain, who spoke about how to wow your customers.

The center also provides a monthly newsletter on issues important to family-owned businesses, and a resource library of videos of past programs as well as books and tapes about family businesses.

But a critical aspect of the center are its confidential small-group forums whereby members are teamed up with others of their generation and job level. Each forum of 10 to 12 people gets together for professionally facilitated dinner meetings where members delve more deeply into issues and share their experience and support.

“The support you get from them is wonderful,” says Bigelow. “These are people whom you get to know, and they really listen. They take your problems on as their own, and they really care.”

The forums are:

  • Leadership Forum, for senior family members, who may discuss such issues as how to run the business, how to bring in the next generation and how to manage the succession process.
  • Successors Forum, for the younger generation, who discuss such things as the succession process from their perspective, how to get along with siblings and cousins, earning the respect of employees, and understanding the responsibilities of ownership and leadership.
  • Women’s Forum, for women in key management positions, on coping with issues they face in the still largely male-dominated family-business world.
  • Management Forum, which brings together CEOs and COOs, who may or may not be family members, to discuss how they run their companies, always with the awareness that they’re leading and managing family businesses.

Meredith Reuben, CEO of Milford-based Eastern Bag & Paper Group, founded by her grandfather in 1918, appreciates the support she receives from the center, which she joined a year ago. “If anyone has a strategic or operational problem, Paul Sessions and the center are wonderful resources,” says Reuben. “The speakers and sessions they have are truly valuable, highly interactive, and provide a lot of input. There is just a wealth of experience here on family business issues.”

For more information on the center, visit www.newhaven.edu/cfb. Or call Paul Sessions at 203- 932-7421 to arrange to attend a meeting as a guest.