It was in 1949 when Elgar Burgeson decided that it was time to start his own company. He then put his mastery to work. That was when his daughter, Dianne Burgeson, president and CEO of the company, was three years old. Dianne has now been in the business for 51 years and is dedicated to [...]
Most companies have sensitive issues that nobody talks about, but avoiding touchy subjects in family firms can be catastrophic. Eric Clinton, director of the DCU Centre for Family Business, draws a distinction between the family-first family business and the business first family business. Those in the second category stand a much better chance of success, [...]
Mediterra Bakehouse in Pittsburg is owned by Nick Ambeliotis, a gentle Grecian giant. Ambeliotis might live and work in Pittsburgh, but he still considers Cleveland home. He grew up in Warren, Ohio, attended John Carroll University, and maintains season tickets to the Browns. For nearly a decade, he worked for Euro USA, a Cleveland-based importer [...]
What to do if you’re a 95-year-old billionaire and you live in a country with inheritance taxes as high as 65 per cent? That’s the challenge facing the family of coffee baron Kim Jae-myeong, honorary chairman of Dongsuh group. It’s a common story in South Korea, which rose to become a global industrial powerhouse dominated [...]
Venture Capital firms (VCs) and family-owned business groups are not natural partners. VCs want strong minority rights, an ability to change management if the company underperforms, and do not mind dilution in shareholdings and control if the company’s valuation grows. By contrast, family-owned business often choose continuity in ownership over a high-risk/high-return strategy, and do [...]
Family businesses are a vital part of the Kenyan economy, and their continuity and success often depend on the transition from one generation to the next. In the Kenyan economy, it has been found that less than one-third of family businesses survive the transition from the first to the second generation, and half of these [...]