A lawyer from a Northwest Arkansas law firm will speak at a breakfast meeting from 7:30-9 a.m. Jan. 30 for the Family Enterprise Center, one of many events scheduled by the FEC to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2014.

 

Chris R. Reed, an attorney with the law firm Moore, Reed and Young out of Fayetteville, will discuss the legal issues related to planning for ownership succession in a family business.

 

Dave Robertson of Mulberry, director of the FEC at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith, said they are celebrating the center’s 10th anniversary by offering a lineup of programs and workshops that will be “their best year yet.”

 

“If you are in a family business and you want to improve your business and your family dynamics, I encourage you to participate in the FEC for one year together with your family,” he said. “We can help each member look at their challenges more objectively and more productively, which will help make your family business more enjoyable and secure.”

 

Reed graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with a bachelor’s degree in financial management in 1994 and graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1999. He earned his Master of Laws in taxation from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law in 2000. 

 

Other speakers slated for the center’s 2014 quarterly breakfast meetings include local family business owner Joe Dickinson and his team at Preferred Office Products; Paula Marshall, CEO of the Bama Companies of Tulsa, Okla.; and local certified public accountant Don De Soto.

 

The FEC is also planning two workshops on Feb. 25 and April 29 that will focus on improving family and business relationships. Both will begin with a breakfast and finish by 11 a.m.

 

Robertson said the talks will be beneficial to local family-owned businesses.

 

“Leading a family business is a tremendous challenge that is impossible to understand unless you are in that situation,” he said. “When a family is in business together, the complexity of both the family relationships and the business operations can become exponential.”

 

“When a family attends one of our meetings together, the various generations can learn about the complexity of the challenges that each family member faces,” he added. “Hopefully, this helps them to gain an understanding and empathy for the other family members and the impact of family and business decisions on the others.”

 

The Family Enterprise Center provides numerous opportunities for family business participants to learn about common family business challenges and how others families have dealt with these challenges. The FEC hosts professional speakers that are experts in legal and accounting matters as well as other family business leaders that are willing to share their own personal experiences.

 

All meetings will be held at the Latture Conference Center on UAFS campus. The events are free to members of the Family Enterprise Center and $20 for guests. Annual FEC dues are $550 per year for a family.

 

Registration may be completed by contacting Robertson by telephone at 479-788-7931 or by dave.robertson@uafs.edu.