John Secor, Ajit George, Kyle Gordon, and Carson Christus of our Corporate Advisory team outline five options for family business owners that are committed to formalizing a dividend policy.

Travis Dunn provides an overview of family business governance, including its definition and purpose, benefits, resource commitment, and steps to begin implementation.

BBH Managing Director Lewis Hart shares a three-pronged strategy for effectively managing your business’s liquidity during times of volatility and uncertainty.

Managing Director Brett Sovine discusses section 6166 of the Internal Revenue Code, which in certain situations permits the executor of an estate to defer federal estate tax on a closely held business following an owner’s death.

In our winter Next Gen Spotlight, Mackenzie Dowling sits down with Christina Pardy, founder and CEO of Sh*t That I Knit, to talk about turning your side hustle into a full-time job and giving back to others all at the same time.

In this issue of Owner to Owner, we speak with the team behind Peay Vineyards, share a strategy for managing your business’s liquidity during times of uncertainty, and look at fostering resilience in the workplace.

Michael Conti, Neriah Ray-Saunders, and Christine Hourihan provide an overview of the economy, credit markets, and private equity and mergers and acquisitions markets.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with the team behind Peay Vineyards – Vanessa Wong, Nick Peay, and Andy Peay – to discuss what drove their interest in wine, how they approach winegrowing and winemaking, and how they differentiate themselves in a competitive industry.

BBH Senior Wealth Planner Ross Bruch explores the two ways businesses and other organizations can create a resilient staff: growing resilience within an organization’s existing workforce and hiring candidates that demonstrate resilient character traits.

Senior Wealth Planner Ross Bruch examines the role buy-sell agreements can play in helping family businesses plan for intrafamily succession.

In our fall Next Gen Spotlight, Mackenzie Dowling sits down with Michael Russell Jr. to talk about growing up in a family business and forging your own path.

Senior Wealth Planner Kerri Mast discusses qualitative matters related to business succession, focusing on the importance of family values.

In this issue of Owner to Owner, we look at considerations when transferring private business shares to the next generation, discuss what business owners should be thinking about in this inflationary economy, examine QSBS elections and provide an overview of industrial revenue bonds.

We provide an overview of the economy, credit markets, and private equity and mergers and acquisitions markets.

Ali Hutchinson, a BBH senior wealth planner, and Ben Persofsky, the executive director of the BBH Center for Family Business, discuss the different methods for transferring shares in a private business to the next generation and cover the implications families need to consider from both a corporate and tax angle.

John Secor and Ajit George of our Corporate Advisory team look at challenges business owners are facing in this inflationary economy and discuss how they can navigate this uncertainty.

The tax benefits for investing in or founding certain startup businesses can be incredible. Not all investors or founders can take advantage of these benefits, but for those who can, millions of dollars of tax can be saved – and with proper planning, potentially even more.

Senior Wealth Planner Kerri Mast discusses effective board governance during complex and uncertain times.

Relationship Manager Reed Smith and Retirement and Trust Associate Matthew Senger break down the differences in setup, administration and contribution limits among three retirement strategies for small-business owners and the self-employed: the SIMPLE IRA, the Solo 401(k) and the SEP IRA.

During a crisis, effective communication is critical for business leaders. We provide our top 10 tips for communicating with key stakeholders during a crisis.

In this issue of Owner to Owner, we examine succession planning from several angles. Our Center for Family Business looks at the requirements of the founder or CEO both during and after transition, next generation family members as well as boards of directors, and also explores options in a situation where traditional ownership succession may not be the best path forward.

A leader’s openness to exploring a future for themselves represents a crucial turning point in beginning the transition journey. We lay out several steps owners can take to begin on the path of a successful transition.

Engaging and preparing the next generation in the succession planning process can be daunting. We share several components that can help the process run smoothly.

Many family businesses rely on their boards of directors to help them during succession planning. Here, we share our top considerations as it relates to boards of directors and their involvement in the process.

The decision to pursue an outside exit strategy, as opposed to a traditional family ownership succession path, is a difficult one. We lay out several steps that owners who are grappling with this issue can take as they seek to determine the best strategy for themselves, the family and the business.

Throughout the first quarter 2022 issue of Owner to Owner, we brought you stories of succession from real businesses. Here they are.

Growth, liquidity and control are all interests core to private business owners, but they don’t always align. In the feature article of this issue, we speak with Rob Lachenauer, Managing Partner of BanyanGlobal, and Ben Persofsky, Executive Director of the BBH Center for Family Business, about the complications that arise around these strategic decisions when there are multiple owners with different priorities and how private business owners can best manage these competing interests.

We sit down with Victoria Mars, former chairman and first corporate ombudsman of Mars, to discuss running a successful family business for 110 years, engaging family members after five generations and leveraging values and principles to maintain focus.

We examine the story of Madam C.J. Walker, America’s first female self-made millionaire and a Black woman, which offers some useful lessons for the intersection of business, personal values and philanthropy.

For the feature article of this issue, we brought together a group of CEOs in our ecosystem to discuss how they led their businesses throughout the year.

BBH Partner Kathryn George speaks with Dr. Kerry Sulkowicz about the emotional challenges that leaders face when their organization is in crisis.

Senior Wealth Planner Kerri Mast looks at considerations for private business owners with private foundations.

Here, we discuss decision-making about social interactions during COVID-19 as restrictions are loosened and individuals have very clear differences in personal risk tolerances.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, Jon Rennert, CEO of ZOLL Medical, shares how ZOLL was able to quickly ramp up ventilator production to help fight COVID-19, what the future of the office may look like and leadership through crisis.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with Tyler Morse, founder and CEO of MCR Hotels, and his wife and creative partner, Rebecca Morse, to discuss developing the TWA Hotel, scaling the business and working with your spouse.

Travis Dunn discusses creating governance structures in family businesses with first and second generation ownership and why even companies with relatively few shareholders can benefit from doing so.

BBH Senior Advisor Ellen Perry discusses the complexities surrounding a liquidity event and covers ways to make the transition more successful.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with third-generation family business Cervera Real Estate to discuss playing the long game when it comes to best serving clients, navigating the complexities of a family business and planning for succession.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with Kerry Sulkowicz, M.D., the founder of the Boswell Group, to discuss the challenges leaders face, the complexities of leadership in private and family businesses and the common qualities he has seen in the best leaders.

We sit down with Michael Preston, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and the co-director of its Family Business Program, to hear insights and advice gleaned from teaching the next generation of family business owners for more than two decades.

Wealth Planner Nicole Jackson Leslie provides an overview of key estate plan personnel and criteria to keep in mind when filling these roles.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with Ward and Nico Landrigan, the father-son duo behind fine jewelry lines Verdura and Belperron, to discuss Ward’s acquisitions of the two brands, Nico’s decision to join the family business and their approach to handling communication.

Travis Dunn provides an overview of family business advisory boards and discusses their benefits, composition and steps for getting started.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with Tim Belk, former CEO of the Belk department store chain, to discuss what running a family business entails, the process of selling his family’s 127-year-old company and why organic farming is one of his post-Belk ventures.

John Secor, Ajit George, Kyle Gordon and Carson Christus from our Corporate Advisory team discuss family and business factors that come into consideration when debating whether now is the time to sell the family business.

Benjamin Persofsky, John Secor and Brett Sovine address the different types of recapitalizations and what to consider when evaluating one. In addition, they zero in on shareholder reorganizations, a common form of recapitalization for families seeking to maintain control of the company during a capital event.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with father-daughter duo John and Sue Leone of Bonney Forge to discuss how the company evolved into a family business, what it is like to work with family members and how they have approached succession planning.

We speak with Ellen Perry, a Senior Advisor to BBH, to discuss the complexities around decision-making in a family business, how families can overcome decision blockers and the tools families can use to foster better decision-making.

In the feature article of this issue of Owner to Owner, we sit down with Travis Boersma, the founder and CEO of Dutch Bros Coffee, to discuss growing and scaling the business, the importance of people, values and culture and why he’s in the relationship business, not the coffee business.

As BBH kicks off its bicentennial anniversary, we speak with Managing Partner Bill Tyree about critical turning points at the firm, the company’s culture and values and the importance of speaking up.

Wealth Planners Karin Prangley and Anne Warren cover an important topic for private business owners: creating a family constitution to enable seamless business and wealth transitions.

John Secor, Ajit George and Kyle Gordon discuss a key issue faced by family businesses: the difficulty of managing capital and liquidity demands. They zero in on a critical factor of finding the right balance – patient capital – and provide advice on how family businesses can achieve this important objective.

Alison Hutchinson and Melineh Ounanian discuss the fundamentals an individual must follow in order to be a good trustee when the trust owns business interests.

Wealth Planner Anne Warren discusses a succession planning tool for family business owners, which is critical though often overlooked: buy-sell agreements.

In the feature interview of this issue of Owner to Owner, BBH sits down with Keith Campbell, chairman of family-owned business Mannington Mills. We discuss the company’s approach to succession planning, hiring non-family executives, the importance of having stated values and a mission and the benefits of a family council.

Senior Vice President Melineh Ounanian discusses how business owners who have established a trust can get their family to understand how beneficial a trust can be, setting forth some of their top benefits from the beneficiary’s perspective.

John Secor, Ajit George and Kyle Gordon examine attracting and retaining professional executives in a closely held business. They discuss both the “softer” areas of focus that lead to success in hiring and retaining executives, as well as short- and long-term compensation structures.

Wealth Planner Karin Prangley discusses the benefits of and process for private business owners attaining official certifications as Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) or Women Business Enterprises (WBE).

John Secor and Ajit George discuss the importance of proper capital allocation for private company business owners and break down how to develop the framework for making such decisions.

John Secor and Ajit George discuss the factors that can help business owners maximize value in a sale, emphasizing the importance of taking a long-term approach to building value in a business far in advance.

Wealth Planner Anne Warren discusses grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and sales to grantor trusts as planning techniques for owners of businesses that are expected to increase in value significantly over the short-term.