Family Business Expert Mendoza to Speak

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Renowned family-business consultant Drew Mendoza, president of the Family Business Consulting Group in Chicago, will give a two-day presentation on Nov. 29 and 30 on strategies for succession planning and building a stronger family business.

The program, organized by the Family Business Center in the UB School of Management, will be held from 2-6 p.m. Nov. 29 and from 7:30-11 a.m. Nov. 30 in the Buffalo Marriott, 1340 Millersport Highway, Amherst.

Mendoza will offer solutions for problems typically encountered by family-business owners when transferring ownership of a business to a family member, and he will discuss strategies for selecting and preparing a family member for ownership of a business.

"This highly interactive program by one of the nation's most respected experts on succession planning will help family businesses ensure that their business remains in the family," said Marianne Sullivan, director of UB's Family Business Center.

Mendoza is founding director of the Loyola University Family Business Center, recognized as a leading think tank on issues unique to business-owning families. He specializes in working with adult-sibling and cousin teams of family-business owners, and has presented throughout the United States. He has appeared on CNN, PBS and CNBC.

Cost of the event is $99 per person and $39 for each additional person in a group. For more information or to register, call 645-3000.

Mendoza's presentation will be sponsored by M&T Bank, Trust Department; Hodgson Russ Andrews Woods & Goodyear LLP; and Business First.

The Family Business Center is a component of the UB School of Management's Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, which since 1987 has provided instruction and counsel to more than 300 local business owners.

Upcoming events at the Family Business Center include seminars on interim management, presented by Gerry Murak of Murak & Associates; strategic planning, presented by Craig Aronoff of the Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University; communicating family business values by Judi Spear of the Spear Group, and business strategy by Ernesto Poza, professor for the practice of family business, Case Western University.