Benefits of Membership in UMass Family Business Center

Membership Activities and Benefits
"It's what we learn after we know it all that really counts"

through the year for all family members in the business. Where the topic is relevant, family not in the business is invited to the meeting. Other topics might be appropriate for a non-family, key employee. The maximum value of membership in the program is reached when all relevant parties partake of our interactive learning environment.

The UMass Amherst Family Business Center offers the opportunity for members to participate in peer roundtable discussions. Three groups of Presidents and Key Family Managers meet 9 times annually in an informal, facilitated "affinity group" with others in your same position in the family business . These discussion groups are a member benefit at no extra charge; they offer a practical, confidential and intimate forum that you may view as your outside board of advisors on both family and business issues.

with intimacy and confidentiality with business owning family members, with speakers who are leaders in the field of family business consulting, and non-commercial contact with the center's sponsors, representing the fields of law, insurance, banking, and accounting. This interaction will be invaluable in providing a sounding board, a second opinion, an empathic and experienced listener, and honest and direct feedback for the family business member.

In our quest to help you "treat your business like a business," we will be regularly offering presentations to improve your skills in such areas as market analysis, budgeting, money management, financing, managing growth, understanding and using financial statements. Topics will be chosen according to the needs of the membership, and taught by Lyne Kendall, Senior Business/ Financial Consultant for the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center, who has been a vital contributor to the thinking of many local entrepreneurs, and understands what business owners need to understand.

Member companies are invited to spend a couple of hours in a facilitated discussion with the center's director, Ira Bryck, participating in a SWOT Analysis of your company. Brainstorm and examine your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, and consider what policies, procedures, initiatives and damage control should be implemented. This session will leave your family members (and key non family managers) better positioned for growth, with increased immunity and tools to deal with what ails you and confronts you.

The UMass Amherst Libraries offers the largest business research collection in Western Massachusetts, with a comprehensive collection of business books, magazines, trade journals, and commercial business databases. MassBedrock (http://www.massbedrock.org), a Web portal of high-quality, freely available business and economic development resources for Massachusetts, is produced at the Library.Reference librarians are available daily to help library users locate information on companies, industries, markets, products, or any management topic. The Library is open to the public seven days a week throughout the school year. Full borrowing privileges are extended to all Massachusetts residents! For more information, call the Reference Desk at (413) 545-0150, or visit the Library's Web site at http://www.library.umass.edu