The University of Toledo Family Business Center will celebrate its 30-year milestone Monday, Nov. 14, at Stranahan Theater and Great Hall.
More than an anniversary, it’s a celebration of three decades of bringing together those who work in places with a unique dynamic.
The University of Toledo Family Business Center will celebrate its 30-year milestone Monday, Nov. 14, at Stranahan Theater and Great Hall.
“Emotion is the first word that comes to mind as it relates to a family business, and having the ability to separate emotion from the business, and figure out what is right to do for the business, not the family, but the business as a whole,” said Pat Boyle, general manager of Northwood Industries and a longtime center member. “But at the same time, you’re dealing with very personal issues. And having a disagreement with a family member is different than having a disagreement with a co-worker or an employee of yours, or a colleague.
“The Family Business Center provides a springboard for healthy conversations back at the business amongst family because, over time, you’re catching a lot of different topics at events and meetings. Hearing others share personal stories is very impactful.”
Coming together to share those stories was a concept several family business leaders mentioned to the UToledo president over dinner circa 1990. Meanwhile, a couple of other family business notables discussed that same concept with faculty members in the College of Business.
In 1992, the Family Business Center was established at the University.
“At the time in the United States, there were seven family business centers, and most of them were affiliated with a university,” said Debbe Skutch, who served as director of the UToledo Family Business Center for 23 years. “Toledo had been a haven for Fortune 500 companies, and they were being bought out, they were going out of business, they were merging. And up and coming were the family and small businesses.”
“It was really family-owned businesses that were going to be the backbone of our regional economy,” added Angie Jones, director of the center. “And there was nothing in the area that supported the dynamics that come along with owning your own business, so oftentimes you felt like your situation was unique. No one understands you; you have no peer to go to when you’re making decisions affecting people’s livelihoods. There was no place that connected people in that role together to learn from each other.”
There were 23 founding members of the center. Today there are 250 members.
It was all made possible thanks to a Stranahan Foundation challenge grant.
“By 1995, we had $750,000 in our endowment,” Skutch said, crediting several founding members for their support.
“And it’s great for the center those members back then had the foresight to plan for an endowment because they knew what they were creating and they wanted it to be able to go on for 30 years, plus, hopefully, another 30 years,” Jones said. “That endowment today is around $3 million.”
It didn’t take long for the center to receive attention. It received the 1995 Outstanding Family Business Program Award from the International Family Business Program Association. The UToledo center was the first recipient of that honor, which recognizes excellence in programming, community outreach, creativity, and research and grants.
Keeping the center on track is an advisory board consisting of family business members. “It’s a crucial part of our governance and how we run the center,” Jones said.
“Our No. 1 core value is that we are a member-driven organization,” Jones said.
“Center members learn from their own experiences. And they are able to share those experiences and that’s what has propelled them and the center forward,” Skutch said.
“We provide a safe learning environment. We stress confidentiality. It’s important for our members to be able to come in and feel safe because they’re oftentimes letting themselves be vulnerable when discussing issues they’re dealing with,” Jones said.
Programming includes webinars, forums, roundtables and certificate programs that cover topics ranging from succession planning to protecting trade secrets to hiring practices.
“We definitely found the topics of events worthy of our time because it always prompted conversations,” said Boyle, who began his career working for his father at TolTest Inc. “Just like any family business, we were going through potential succession issues and trying to figure out how that was going to work, and we got to listen and talk about it.”
“We learned early on that some of the best learning happens by connecting people together,” Jones said. “That ‘been there, done that.’ So we like to call ourselves relationship-builders.”
Case in point: The success of the center’s affinity groups. There are 27 affinity groups with 161 participating companies — that’s 65 percent of the center’s membership.
“The affinity groups keep growing,” Skutch said. “There’s nothing else like it available in the business community. And it’s based on the fact that the one thing they all have in common is they’re from a family business. It was based on confidentiality, trust, attendance and learning from each other. And it worked.”
“The affinity groups put like-minded individuals together as peers to discuss and help resolve issues that we’re confronting with our businesses,” Boyle said. “It’s been valuable time spent. After a number of years, we still have a core group of people that we continue to meet since day one.
“And it’s valuable time. It’s often the affinity group meetings come on the busiest of days,” Boyle said. “But I always make it a point to go, and I’m always thankful I did.”
Skutch and Jones are grateful for the center’s successful leadership transition. Jones took the helm in 2017, when Skutch retired. But Skutch continued to work part time in 2018.
“When we hired Angie in 2012, we knew she would be the center’s next director,” Skutch said. “We learned from our members; she was our succession plan.”
“We practice what we preach: If you retire on a Friday, you’d better have a plan in place for Monday,” Jones said. “Debbe continued to work to help us ease into things.”
That attention to detail is evident in everything about the center, which just posted a 95 percent member retention rate for the fifth straight year.
“We exist for the center members,” Jones said. “All that we do is for them; the center is a resource for our members.”
“The fact that the center has grown and thrived for 30 years proves it’s serving the needs of the Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan family businesses very, very well,” Boyle said.
Dinner and networking will begin at 5:15 p.m., and the program will start at 6 p.m. Registration is required by Nov. 9 for this free event, and can be made by emailing Jones at angie.jones@utoledo.edu
