22 Jun Family Business Directors Alliance, Cornell University
This week (June of 2018) I attended my 3rd annual meeting of the Family Business Alliance in Ithaca, New York. The so-called Alliance is made up of all the directors who run family business centers across the USA and Canada. This year’s conference was hosted by the Smith Family Business Initiative at Cornell University (SFBI). Last year the conference was hosted in San Francisco at the University of the Pacific and the year before it was held at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Founded in 2014 by a generous gift from John and Dyan Smith, the Smith Family Business Initiative provides education, networking and research for family business owners, successors and students from all over the world.
John Smith, a ’74 Cornell MBA grad and Chairman of CRST International, had this to say upon announcing his gift; “It is in the best interest of family businesses and the country for these businesses to be carried on for many generations. With a focus on family businesses at Johnson, good research will be conducted, educational seminars will address the unique needs of family businesses, and prospective students will be drawn to Johnson because of the family business expertise on campus.”
Dyan Smith adds, “One of the main reasons we are moving forward with CRST remaining within our family is because of education. The initiative is the next step to putting Johnson in the forefront of family business management.”
Some of the topics presented at this year’s conference included:
- The Holistic Model of the Family Business Center; e.g. Teaching, Outreach, Research
- Incorporating Entrepreneurship into the Family Business Center
- Eric Allyn of Allyn Family Office
- How to Define Success and Make Money
- Lunchtime keynote address by Stefanie Kasselakis Kyles, CEO of Vassollaros & Sons Coffee
- Best of Programs, Speakers and New Ideas
I was honored to be an invited guest of the Alliance and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn so much about the university-based family business center. My thanks to Program Director, Dan Van Der Vliet, who invited me to attend this year’s conference. 
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