UMass Family Business Center: Outreach to Key Economic Sector
(written by Judith Cameron for UMass Outreach Development report) 
Since 1948, Grynn & Barrett Studios has survived boom and bust economies, growing from a small full-service photography studio to dominating the school picture market in the Northeast. The business has gone from being a sole proprietor operated by its founder, Robert Grenier, to a partnership run by his four sons.
Much of the business’s evolution – new markets, new name, new technology, and new headquarters in Holyoke, Mass. – occurred under the tenure of brothers Larry, Daniel, Marc, and Chris. Their success is due to their savvy in the world of business and with an assist from the UMass Amherst Family Business Center.
Started 15 years ago, the 70-member center offers professional education to family business owners with opportunities to network and consult with each other at dinner forums and roundtable events about problems and solutions inherent in family enterprises.
Larry Grenier, president and CEO of Grynn & Barrett says the center’s programs are engaging and help him and his brothers make strategic business decisions as well as grapple with issues such as succession planning. Grenier and his brothers took over the reins of the 40-employee firm in 1982. Since then, revenue at the firm increased by 900 percent. “If I have critical issues I bring it up at the CEO roundtable. It’s a tight group and very confidential,” says Grenier. He says he rarely misses a dinner, where there are nationally renowned guest speakers, or a roundtable discussion. “To me it’s part of my routine, when the yearly schedule comes out, I put it in my calendar right away,” says Grenier.
Ira Bryck, the director of the center, says companies such as Grynn & Barrett are the backbone of the Western Massachusetts economy. They support the center both financially by paying $2700 annually and by providing feedback reflecting their needs and interests, which determines the agenda. . Though delivering a valuable service, for some family businesses, the fee can be a deterrent to joining the center. Gifts that help support membership costs are one way of expanding the center’s good works and helping other family businesses not just survive, but prosper.
MORE ON HOW TO GIVE TO THE UMASS FAMILY BUSINESS CENTER
(413) 545-1537
email Ira Bryck at: bryck@contined.umass.edu
