Highlights of Past Programs

Thursday September 17, 2009“Mastering The Media” “Facing the Press is more difficult than bathing a leper” – Mother Teresa.  Ms. Lorri Allen is The SOUNDBITE COACH and taught us media tricks and how to recover from them.  We learned practical ideas you can use immediately on the job or in front of the camera.  We also learned how to use what is in the news to create your own thought provoking stories.  Lorri AllenLorri Allen runs The Soundbite Coach, a company that works with people who want to craft a clear media message and with organizations that want to communicate quickly in a crisis. She is the author of Media Savvy: Get Reporters to Eat out of Your Hand before they Bite It and the writer/host of a two-part video training series called Media Savvy. As a journalist, Lorri has interviewed more than 2,000 people. One day she realized it seemed unfair that some people did better on camera than others. Shouldn't everybody have the chance to get his or her message across? That's when she began her campaign to eliminate the fear of the news media.  

Thursday August 27, 2009
 “Where Are We Now?"   

 

Our first program this season was hard core, cutting edge fiscal forecasting. Dr. James Smith, chief economist at Parsec Financial covered the state of the economy and how it may affect your business.  Dr. Smith’s career spans private industry, government and academic   institutions, and includes tenures with Wharton Econometrics, Union Carbide, and the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.  He has been a speaker for the UNC Asheville Economic Crystal Ball Seminar for twenty years. Known best as an economic forecaster, Jim is a member of the forecasting panels of Bloomberg, Business Week and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, and participates in economic surveys for the National Association for Business Economics, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Jim Ethier, President of Bush Brothers Company, (those wonderful beans) shared with us the challenges and humor of making the world's best beans and keeping the secret recipe in the family!

At our March 2009 program, we were delighted with a performance by UNC Asheville improvisational drama students and Gen Y presented by Dr. Alycia Fogle, Dept of Management & Accountancy.

John Oswald of Mills Manufacturing, Grant Osborne & Rendi Mann-Stadt of McGuire Wood & Bissette and Steve Murphy, President and Owner of Carolina HR Partners discussed personnel and legal issues involved in hiring Non US Employees. In August of 2008 federal agents arrested more than 50 employees of Mills Manufacturing on immigration related charges. We heard the story and lessons learned.

Meridith Elliot Powell spoke to the Forum about making the right contacts and making them count!  Meridith is the owner of MRP Profit Strategies LLC and has taken a unique approach to business consulting with a blend of developing people and driving up revenues.  Her high energy, spirited wit makes her a fast-paced and effective speaker.
                          
Dr. Cindy Iannarelli is founder of the Bernelli Foundation in Italy and creator of The Buzz Project.  The Foundation is dedicated to distributing educational products and training to stimulate entrepreneurial behaviors in children and special populations such as family businesses worldwide.  She revealed the things every business owner must know about the money we work so hard to earn.  She was raised in a family business!                                 
 "The Changing of the Guard: A Panel Discussion"
 The success of FBF's panel discussions was experienced again with a look at the transition to the next generation.  We learned how our panelist's companies moved to the next era of leadership.  Ron Reece, Ph.D., a psychologist from South Carolina, moderated the program with great enthusiasm.  The commonality of family complications with a bit of humor and love was shared by three companies.
                                                  
"Current Economic Outlook for NC Family Owned Businesses"
 Mr. Jeffrey Kane, Senior Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond provided the current economic forecast for our region.  As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve sets monetary policy, supervises and regulates member financial institutions and provides an array of financial services.  In the Fifth District, they contribute to the formulation of national monetary policy, gather and analyze regional economic data, and supervise and regulate financial institutions.  This was an outstanding opportunity to gaze into the economic crystal ball for 2008.Mr. Kane was an exceptional speaker and we look forward to his return.
                    
 "The Care and Feeding of Your Exit Strategy" was presented by Ken Kaplan, a partner in the WNC practice of Tatum, LLC and Peter Nilsen of Middle Market Resources, LLC.  Since you have spent countless hours nurturing and growing your business, we explored the next phase--preparing your business and yourself for the exit transition.   Richard Kort of McGuire Wood and Bissette   highly recommended attendance for all business owners regardless if an exit strategy is in the near or distant future.
      
We welcomed back to the Family Business Forum, Fredda Herz Brown.  Fredda explained the importance of having a board of directors no matter the size of your business.  We learned how to build a board if we currently don't have one, get advice on boards if you already do.  Fredda is Founder and Managing Partner of The Metropolitan Group LLC and a leading family business consultant.
Our season kick-off was with Richard Hadden, author of "Contented Cows & the Impact for Family Owned Businesses".  Funny, hard-hitting, practical, at times a little outrageous, but always professional.  We learned how creating a great place to work is one of the best things a company can do for its bottom line.  We saw why Winning Organizations also happen to be some of the best places to work! 

"Partners in Marriage and Work" Marriage is a gift, work is a blessing, but what about the mixing of marriage and work?  Is it a gift, blessing or curse?  Ron Reece, PhD, Greenville SC  offered advice on helping marriages in the pendulum swings of life.                               

"Do We Sell?" Ever think you have had enough of this? I'm getting out.  We heard both the financial and emotional issues involved in selling a family business.  Our presenters were Todd Morse of Chimney Rock Company, Neil Farnam of Farnam Custom Products, and Colin Larsen who sold his family business and is now with Colton Groome & Company.  We had an expert panel who added financial and legal advice to members thinking of selling their business, Bill Smith from First Citizens, Gary Mathes from Dixon Hughes Accounting and Ken Kaplan of Tatum LLC in Black Mountain.  The panel was moderated by Gerald LeVan of the LeVan Co, LLC.     

Can you keep a secret? Do you know which secrets to guard? Are you protected if there is an information leak from a former employee?  The latest info on trade secrets was presented by McGuire Wood & Bissette Law Firm.   

"Women's Roles in Family Business: Changing the Face of Family Held Companies" was presented by Greg Greenleaf and Sharon Krone of The Family Business Consulting Group, Inc.  While family businesses traditionally have had leadership sustained by male members of the family, more women are running family businesses than ever before.  When women aspire to leadership roles within the firm as well as broadened roles within the enterprising family, the opportunities for business-owning families are greater than ever.  The many traditional and non-traditional roles that women fill in every family business and what family business members - male and female alike- should be doing to maximize their performance in these roles was discussed.

Family Business Forum members had the unique opportunity to attend a luncheon presentation by the LL Bean Company of Freeport, Maine at the beautiful Inn on Biltmore Estate.  The presenters, Ms. Elizabeth Spaulding, VP Customer Satisfaction and Ms. Sarah Cox, Senior Manager of Organizational Development of the LL Bean Company spoke on the topic "Evolving Company Culture in a Family Owned Business: Balancing Continuity and Change." They explained how  LL Bean began as a one man direct mail order business and has now become a global outfitting business which involves over 4000 people producing annual sales of $1.2 billion. They discussed progression of the LL Bean culture - how values and culture spawned by Leon Leonwood Bean evolved to shape the company he founded in 1912 to thrive in a much more complex, competitive and informationally aware atmosphere.

The FISH! Philosophy was presented by Chimney Rock Park.  This is a customer service concept that has been successfully employed in financial institutions, critical care hospitals, manufacturing, service organizations and, yes, recreational business and theme parks.  It encourages businesses to manage their employees and suppliers with enthusiasm which will promote profit and success for the business.