Forum helps family businesses

Indiana Family Business Forum holds workshops eight times each year. The next workshop "As If Money Mattered - Financial Issues" will be held Aug. 30. It will be presented by Greenwalt Sponsel & Company Incorporated and will be hosted at their offices. Current and prospective members are invited to attend.\nAt the end of this summer, the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovations, a part of the Kelly School of Business, held a forum for Indiana family businesses. The purpose of the forum was to offer educational programs and networking opportunities to meet the specific needs of family owned businesses. Such issues included how a business is impacted by marriage, divorce, birth or death, the benefits of pre- and post-nuptial agreements, how to use wills and trusts to anticipate and avoid problems and how buy-sell agreements work.\nThe Indiana Family Business Forum actually began in 1997. It grew from a family business conference that was sponsored by the Johnson Center. With the issues that were at hand, the Johnson Center saw a need to create something that would help to promote Indiana family businesses. Thus the IFBF was created and now is one of three networks administered by the Johnson Center. \nThe actual mission of the Indiana Family Business Forum is "to help family-owned businesses develop solutions to their unique business challenges by providing educational programs, access to professional expertise and resources and opportunities for networking and sharing of experiences." \nTheir goal is for family businesses "to achieve growth, prosperity and perpetuation." \nThese businesses are not your typical "ma & pa" organizations. To become a member of the forum, the businesses must have an annual revenue of at least $3 million. They also have to pay yearly membership dues. \nThis forum was also geared primarily towards businesses in central Indiana since the northern and eastern areas of the state have their own respective organizations. The forum is sponsored by Monument Advisors, the Lowe Foundation, Leadership Horizons, Greenwalt Sponsel and Company and Barnes and Thornburg. \nThis forum was held in Indianapolis at the Barnes and Thornburg Law offices and covered many issues that affect family businesses. Of the 30 people who attended the event, most found it to be helpful.\nKimberly Ruff, a representative from the Johson Center, said, "The workshop was extremely well-received with members staying long after the official ending period to share experiences with other network members and ask detailed questions of the presenters, the people who attended evaluated the event as extremely beneficial." \nFor more information contact Ruff at kruff@indiana.edu or visit the Indiana Family Business Forum Web site at www.bus.indiana.edu/jcei.