IU'S KELLEY SCHOOL OFFERS HELP TO FAMILY BUSINESSES

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the vast majority of businesses in the United States, family matters such as divorce, sibling conflicts and inter-generational communication often play a factor in major business decisions. That's because 85 percent of businesses are family-owned, according to national research, yet few survive through the second generation.

Until now, no group has focused on the unique set of issues facing family businesses in the Midwest. But that has changed.

Now Indiana's family businesses can look to a new resource at Indiana University for help with these matters -- the Family Business Forum, sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CEI) in the Kelley School of Business.

Other sponsors include Barnes & Thornburg, Conseco Risk Management Inc., Paul I. Cripe Inc., Greenwalt Sponsel & Co. Inc., and Peoples Bank & Trust Co. The group evolved from a CEI conference on family businesses last spring.

"The Family Business Forum will help its members balance business needs with family needs, and learn how to manage difficult situations for the best of all involved," said Daniel W. DeHayes, director of the center and professor of business administration. The group will cover complex topics such as succession planning, ownership structure, communication issues, conflict resolution and other sensitive topics.

An advisory board -- consisting of sponsors and several family business owners -- defines the direction of the group and is beginning to recruit members.

"All of us who own family businesses can relate to certain questions and issues," said Richard Johnson, president of Johnson Oil Co. and Bigfoot Convenience Stores, and a member of the advisory board. "The Family Business Forum will focus on those issues, looking at business issues in a family context. The forum will help us build stronger, healthier businesses that can endure for generations."

The forum will employ the resources of the Kelley School of Business, which was recently named by Success magazine as one of the nation's top 25 schools for entrepreneurship.

The group also will draw on the expertise of other center membership groups, including The Alliance, which consists of heads of mid-sized companies with over $10 million in annual sales, and the Growth 100 Network, which exists for winners of the Growth 100 award for high performance and fast growth. All three membership groups meet several times a year for networking and educational opportunities.

For more information on the Family Business Forum or any other CEI activity, call Luci Englert, 812-855-4248.

(CONTACT: George Vlahakis, Office of Communications and Marketing, 812-855-0846 or 812-855-3911, gvlahaki@indiana.edu

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