Baylor to Sponsor Waco Family Business Seminar Series

by Alan Hunt

Baylor University's Institute for Family Business will sponsor a Waco Family Business Seminar series during 1996 designed to help local family-owned businesses plan for and achieve their goals.
Dr. Nancy Upton, director of Baylor's John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and founder of the Institute for Family Business, will be the keynote speaker at the inaugural breakfast meeting of the series at the Harrington House Faculty Dining Center at Baylor from 7:30-9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20. Her topic will be "Developing an Action Plan and Identifying Needs for the Family Business."
Other breakfast meetings and discussion topics are scheduled for 1996 as follows: March 26, Managing Complex Family Relationships; April 23, Planning Around the IRS; May 30, Estate Planning; July 30, Developing Next Generation Leadership; Aug. 27, Planning for Effective Family Communication; Oct. 1, Compensation Issues Performance Evaluations and Reviews; and Oct. 29, Strategic Planning - Defining the Mission. Evening receptions are also scheduled from 5:30-7 p.m. on June 25 and Dec. 3. All programs will be held at the Harrington House Faculty Dining Center.
"The general theme of all our programs is helping family-owned businesses achieve healthy, sustainable growth," said Bob Hughes, program director of the Institute for Family Business, adding that most of the seminar programs will be presented by members of the faculty at the Hankamer School of Business.
He said the numerous topics to be discussed during the series will include leadership succession issues, assigning the proper role to each family member, managing family conflict, protecting the family's financial assets, how to train the next generation, family impact on non-family member employees, and how to hire/fire family members.
Hughes said family-owned businesses in the Waco and Central Texas area were surveyed to determine discussion topics that could benefit them in the daily operation and development of their organizations. "We are anxious to respond to the needs of our Waco family firms, even on controversial issues," he said.
The Institute for Family Business is part of the Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship, which was recently ranked fourth in the nation in a survey of top business schools by U.S. News and World Report. The Center also was ranked by Success magazine in its list of the nation's top 25 business schools for entrepreneurs.
Upton was named Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. She has also been named the recipient of the award for Innovative Achievement in Curriculum Design and Program Development presented by the Southwestern Business Deans' Association.
Cost per person per program is $25, which includes a complete breakfast. Cost-saving registration options are available, including Gold Patron, costing $1,000, which enables six people to attend each of the 10 programs, and Silver Patron, costing $500, for three people to attend each of the 10 programs. Ten percent of all registration fees will be donated to a local, family-oriented charity
For more information about the Waco Family Business Seminar Series, call Hughes or Susan Meacham at (817) 755-2265.