Transitioning the Family-Owned Business

You’ve worked hard, most of your life, to provide sustenance and support to your family. You did that by providing services and products to the market...services and products superior to your competitors, as judged by that very marketplace. You’ve earned the right to reap the rewards, and to actively decide when, how and to whom the torch will be passed. Ideally, you will be prepared to enjoy the fruits of your labor to the utmost.

Your legacy is in place...if,

...you’ve taken the time, the planning and the proper strategy to make the transition process effective and positive.

The full-day seminar we’re offering is an essential, thought-provoking event, designed to give you answers to questions about how you can maximize the likelihood of real success, not only for you, but for your successors. You will also learn to ask questions you may not even have considered, and ask them at the right time, in the right atmosphere. Unlike non-family-owned businesses, your success will include consideration of the effect on your family, which is not separate from your business.

There are all sorts of studies describing the likelihood of success in the continuation of small businesses. Essentially, they all revolve around the statistics showing that less than 50% of family businesses make it to the 2^nd generation. Less than 10% of these businesses make it to the 3^rd generation. Furthermore, only about 20% of businesses stay in the same family after 60 years.

We have assembled a very talented, experienced panel of experts in one place, on one special day, so that you can begin, or continue your quest for preserving your legacy. (In fact, you may be surprised at what that “real” legacy really represents).

The Forum for Family Business is proud to offer the following presenters for the “Transitioning the Family-Owned Business” seminar. It’s up to you to look at your future and make the positive decision to build the kind of legacy that lasts!

Tommy Fulton has worked in his family business since the age of fourteen. Many members of his extended family have also worked there from time to time. When he became the third-generation president, he dealt firsthand with the challenges inherent in succession from one generation to the next. After years in the business, he was faced with a major legal fight with a major shareholder, the second-generation president. The result of the court battle led to his ouster from the company, an almost $4 million dollar judgment against his side of the family and more than $1 million dollars in legal fees. After 838 days out of his company, the Alabama Supreme Court threw out the judgment against his family, negotiations finally allowed him to return to the presidency of his company.

Tommy described his travails in his book, An Act of Congress - The Real-Life Story of Power and Politics in Family Business. After writing this book, he realized that his experience could help other family business owners, as well as closely held business shareholders. Life teaches lessons, and if we can learn from others rather than through enduring our own pain...all the better. Tommy speaks mainly to associations with small business ownership components, addressing the real-life issues of communication, succession, and preservation. His keynote is also invaluable to those who advise businesses, including attorneys, CPA’s, financial advisors, and any professional serving the future existence of those businesses. Tommy is a member of the Family Firm Institute and is well on his way to certification as a consultant.

While the topic is serious, Tommy has the ability to make you laugh and shake your head as you listen to the very recognizable indicators of possible trouble.

Cam Marston

Expert On The Generations

Cam Marston is the leading expert on the impact of generational characteristics and differences on the workplace and the marketplace.

As an author, columnist, blogger, and lecturer, he imparts a clear understanding of how generational demographics are changing the landscape of business.

Marston and his firm, Generational Insights, have provided research and consultation on generational issues to hundreds of companies and professional groups, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations, as well as major professional associations, for over 15 years.

As a consultant, Marston has provided generational insight and advice to leadership at the

nation’s most prominent corporations, including American Express, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Kellogg, Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Warner Brothers, ESPN, Qualcomm, RE/MAX and Eli Lilly.

He has also offered presentations and consultations for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Army, as well as major professional associations such as the American Bankers Association and the Million Dollar Roundtable.

John W. Jeffries became a licensed Certified Public Accountant in 1993. He is also a licensed Certified Valuation Analyst. During his career, he has been engaged in many areas of both business and individual accounting and taxation.

His work has included preparation of financial statements (audits, reviews and compilations) for closely held businesses, bookkeeping services, income tax preparation (corporate, partnership, fiduciary and individual) and estate and gift tax planning and preparation for individuals.

John has worked with clients in many areas such as contracting, retail, wholesale and service industries. These services have been provided at varying stages such as the startup of a business, an ongoing business and the closing of a business.

He has counseled in business valuations and prepared business valuation reports for clients. These engagements have been performed for a variety of purposes including buying and selling a business, admission of a partner, gifting a business interest down to the next generation and for inclusion in estate tax returns.

Greg Watts was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1979, the U. S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit in 1981, and the U. S. Tax Court in 1985.

As a member of the firm, Johnstone, Adams, Bailey, Gordon and Harris, L.L.C., Greg provides considerable corporate, business, estate and income tax planning to corporate and individual clients, including owners of closely-held businesses and individual business executives. Estate planning assures that the disposition of client property can be achieved at a minimum tax cost.

After discussing with the client the client's objectives and analyzing the client's estate plan, tax lawyers in the firm can prepare wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney and other estate planning documents. These documents are as simple or as complex as necessary to achieve the particular goals of each client. 

As one of the lawyers at Johnstone Adams with an advanced tax degree, Greg works with accountants, trust officers, and other professional investment advisors, as designated by the clients, to integrate estate planning with current and future investment goals. The firm analyzes and provides advice concerning the impact of federal and state death taxes on closely-held businesses. Greg also recommends methods to reduce the tax burden and raise the funds necessary for the payment of taxes. These methods include stock redemptions and buy-sell agreements, use of charitable gifts, lifetime intra-family gift giving, insurance trusts, and Employee Stock Option Ownership Plans.

John Lyle, III Esq. John Lyle joined Adams and Reese in 2003 and leads the Tax team in Birmingham and Mobile. He practices in the areas of corporate, partnership and limited liability company planning, estate planning, probate, trusts and estates, mergers and acquisitions, tax planning and tax controversies.

He represents businesses, individuals and families. John is a member of the Board of Directors of the Estate Planning Council of Mobile, Inc., and the Finance and Taxation Committee of the Birmingham Business Alliance. He served as the Chairman of the Tax Section of the Alabama State Bar Association.

John is a member of the Family Firm Institute. He is listed in Best Lawyers® - Tax Law, and is a frequent speaker on the topics of estate planning, business planning, family businesses, corporate, partnership, and limited liability company issues.

Phil Webb Webb Financial Group specializes in advanced estate and business planning for professionals and closely held businesses. Financial strategies today are very complex.

Rapidly changing tax laws, investment and insurance products, court decisions and constant need to refinance or seek additional capital through loans, make it imperative that we work closely with your other advisors. These include your accountant, attorney, banker, insurance broker, stock broker and trust officer.

Phil Webb received his Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Management and Finance from Auburn University. He began his career in financial planning in 1975 as a result of his experience in the U.S. Air Force. Webb earn Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU)® and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC)® professional designations from American College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Securities Products are offered Through Park Avenue Securities (PAS), a registered broker/dealer, 7 Hanover Square, New York, NY 10004, 888.600.4667. Adams & Associates, Inc. is not an affiliate or subsidiary of PAS. PAS is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Guardian Life Insurance Co. PAS is a member FINRA SIPC.

W. Darron Kendrick, CPA has been the owner of W. Darron

Kendrick, CPA, PC, since 2002. The business was previously located in Gulfport, Mississippi and relocated to Fairhope, Alabama in 2005. The firm provides services in accounting, income tax, research, business consulting valuation.

Kendrick grew up on a family farm and worked his way through college in the family hardware store. Professionally, he has worked as an employee for two family businesses and has provided accounting and tax services to a variety of family firms from Mississippi to California.

Kendrick earned his Bachelor of Business Administration, Accountancy Major (B.B.A.),

from the University of Mississippi in December of 1979. He also received his Master of

Arts (M.A.) from the University of Mississippi in May of 1997, and is currently pursuing his Master of Juridical Science (J.S.M.) from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California with an expected graduation date of May, 2012.