We’ve reached the unofficial halfway point of summer as the 4th of July has passed us by. It's been hot, it's been wet, it's been windy. I guess it's been Iowa. In a few weeks, the kids will be back in school, the Twins will be well on their way to the AL Pennant (I hope) and our next year of UNI Family Business Center season will be kicking off!

Our Virtual Breakfast Series will start with a highly-requested session on communication. "Navigating Conflict: Keeping it in the Family" will be the first session on Aug. 25. Over the course of our other four virtual sessions we will cover succession planning, maintaining a culture of innovation, family values, and buying out family members/passive owners. It’s a slate full of family business owners talking about their personal experiences, so I hope you can join us! You can find more about these sessions on our events page.

Our second Iowa Family Business Conference is back and continues to expand. Please save the date of Nov. 10, 2022, and plan to be with us for a day of learning, sharing and spending time with other Iowa business families. Stay tuned for an announcement on our keynote family business – it's going to be hot and spicy this year!

Peer groups are another big part of FBC programming. This year we are expanding that by offering a quarterly, virtual group called GenConnect. This group welcomes family members of all generations and leadership roles. We’ll have an introductory kick-off for that on Sept. 15. More information can be found here. Best of all, this is program is included FREE with your membership!

We hope to see you and your family at these upcoming events. And we appreciate your commitment to family business ownership in Iowa!

Dan Beenken
Director, UNI Family Business Center