Johnson County Community College
Press Release
College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122
7/20/07
Story by Peggy Graham
JCCC Offers New Family Business Class
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – This fall, Johnson County Community College is offering a new Family Business class to position family enterprises for sustained growth and continuity through the generations. Using an innovative formula, the class integrates a 16-week credit class with three noncredit workshops offered by the Kansas Small Business Development Center at JCCC.
The three SBDC workshops are Family Business Strategic Planning, Family Business Succession and Estate Planning, and Family Business as a System. The SBDC workshops are each three or four hours in length, and family business owners can enroll in one SBDC class or all three.
Small business owners have the advantage of access to topics specific to their needs without committing to a semester-long class. Credit students will have the advantage of enrolling in one class, which includes the three workshops taught through the SBDC, providing the opportunity for potential entrepreneurs to interact with current family business owners.
The workshops are led by well-credentialed experts in their fields, a family business attorney and insurance specialist to help families transition their business to the next generation by offering expertise on minimizing taxes and structuring the transition/buyout to meet the financial needs of the business; an attorney, who is also a mediator and business counselor, to help businesses develop policies for compensation, employment, advisory boards and conflict resolution; and a family business consultant to help with strategic planning.
According to Barbara Millard, JCCC assistant professor, entrepreneurship, who teaches the credit Family Business class, 60 percent of family businesses don't make it to the next generation – a concern since 40 percent to 50 percent of family firms in the United States will be owned by groups of siblings in the future.
JCCC's entrepreneurship program prepares students to operate their own businesses through formal classroom training, resulting in an associate's degree or vocational certificate in entrepreneurship or business plan certificate. The SBDC is committed to helping entrepreneurs and small business owners start and grow their businesses through one-on-one consulting, training and resources. Together, the two entities are building toward a family business center.
“Being a small business owner is difficult enough. When you add family interests and have family members as co-workers, bosses and subordinates, issues become even more complicated,” said Cheri Streeter, SBDC. “It becomes mandatory for a successful family small business owner to professionalize its management.” The Family Business class and workshops will be offered twice a year during the spring and fall semester. For more information, contact Millard at 913-469-8500, ext. 4792.
