Midwest Partnership EDC (MWP) will partner with Advance Iowa to host two succession planning workshops on Tuesday, Aug. 23, at Lake Panorama National Resort and Conference Center in Panora.
All Greene County business owners are welcome, as Greene County is a member of MWP.
The first session, from 12 to 3 pm, will be geared towards community members seeking to build facilitation skills in order to assist business owners, and the second session, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, will be for business owners interested in beginning their own succession planning.
The workshops will feature the topics of family dynamics, strategies to create a more valuable company, role transitions, legal tools, and the role of a consultant. Business owners can look forward to learning about what makes their business more attractive and engaging in interactive discussion on business value drivers. Community members—such as economic developers, financial lenders, Main Street and Chamber staff and board members—are encouraged to attend to learn best practices for engaging business owners on the topic of succession planning in order to keep local businesses strong for years to come.
“Through both our Business Connections Program and the Regional Entrepreneurship Project, we have been looking for ways to address key business issues that have been identified by local businesses during business visits and EntreBASH events,” said MWP executive director Sarah Gomez Truitt. “Our region has a lot of family-owned businesses and with business retention as a focus at Midwest Partnership, it makes sense to address business succession from both angles—assisting existing businesses as well as entrepreneurial endeavors. It’s not always a favorite topic to discuss, but planning for business succession is essential to ensure a smooth transition from one business owner to another. We have a great opportunity to do just that by partnering with the experts at Advance Iowa for these workshops.”
Family businesses are vital to our economy and currently account for almost 75 percent of all businesses and more than 30 percent of all jobs. A very startling fact is that only 30 percent of these firms survive the second generation and less than 10 percent the third generation.
Facilitated by an expert Advance Iowa consultant certified in exit planning and bringing a wealth of experience to the arena of succession planning, both workshop sessions are free to participants, made possible by funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. An optional meal during each session is available for $15. RSVPs are requested to Lynsi Pasutti at (515)523-1262 or lpasutti@midwestpartnership.com.
About Advance Iowa: Advance Iowa is a program within UNI’s Center for Business Growth and Innovation, designed to work with midsized companies to enhance their growth. In addition to strategic planning, financial benchmarking, market intelligence, and executive roundtables, Advance Iowa also provides succession planning assistance, helping business owners identify exit objectives and providing guidance to achieve them, stating “Your family, community, customers, employees and suppliers are counting on you to make plans for your business to continue after you are gone.”
About Midwest Partnership EDC: Midwest Partnership EDC is the non-profit, collaborative economic development organization formed to strengthen the economic vitality of the communities within Adair, Audubon, Greene, and Guthrie counties, as the region’s leading facilitator for the retention, expansion and attraction of business to create jobs and improve quality of life in West Central Iowa.
