Family Business Center Unveils Charlotte Events

Succession planning in the family business and generational differences in the workplace are topics to be highlighted in upcoming Wake Forest University Schools of Business Family Business Center forums.

Robert Norris, founding partner of Wishart, Norris Henninger & Pittman PA, will present “The Business Owner’s Pathway to Maximizing and Preserving Business and Personal Wealth” at the first of the quarterly forums on Jan. 27. “Most business owners fail to maximize or preserve wealth during the sale or transfer of their business to the next generation of owners. It doesn’t have to be that way,” Norris said.

Participants will be introduced to a six-step exit planning process which greatly simplifies the business owner’s task of addressing business and personal issues in an integrated fashion. Application of this process along with the tools and techniques discussed will help ensure the maximization and preservation of the owner’s business and personal wealth.

For more than 34 years, Norris has represented family and privately-owned businesses in mergers and acquisitions, sales of businesses, business owner exit planning, and business succession planning. His passion is for acting as an exit planning and succession planning facilitator for business owners and their companies. He has handled succession planning matters for several of the largest businesses in the Carolinas.

“The Business Owner’s Pathway to Maximizing and Preserving Business and Personal Wealth” is from noon to 4 pm at the Whitehead Manor Conference Center located at 5901 Sardis Road, Charlotte.

Stacey Randall, founder and chief consultant of SBR Consulting, will present “Generational Differences: Reality or Hype” at the second of the quarterly forums March 2. Randall will discuss the key workforce attributes for each generation, and the implications for attracting, retaining, and rewarding different generations in the workplace. Forum participants will also receive copies of SBR’s proprietary research findings on how the recession is affecting the millennial generation and attraction and retention strategies.

In the second part of the program, Stephen Shuford, executive vice president of Shurtape Technologies LLC, will share the joys and challenges of growing a longtime maker of yarns and twine into leading global manufacturer and marketer of adhesive tapes, weatherization products and stationery products under the Shurtape, Duck, Painter’s Mate Green, FrogTape and Easy Liner brands. Shurtape has manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Canada and China and has sales and distribution facilities around the world. Customers include Sherwin-Williams, Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Staples, Michaels and an array of industrial distributors. Shuford is a fifth generation owner/manager of the family business.

“Generational Differences: Reality or Hype” is from noon to 4 pm at Whitehead Manor.

Family Business Center forums are only open to Family Business Center members, sponsors and their guests. For information on FBC membership and guest policies, please contact Rhonda Stokes at (704) 366-0540. Member dues and corporate sponsors Wishart, Norris Henninger & Pittman Attorneys At Law and RSM McGladrey fund the Family Business Center in Charlotte.

The Family Business Center, established in 1999 under the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship in the Wake Forest University Schools of Business, addresses issues faced by closely held and family firms. The member-based organization uses the capabilities and educational resources at Wake Forest, in the community and beyond to provide closely held and family firms the assistance they need to grow and succeed from generation to generation.