Family Business Center Announces Fall Forum Schedule

WINSTON-SALEM, NC –Leadership development and leveraging the family name are topics to be highlighted in upcoming Wake Forest University Family Business Center forums.

Steve Swavely, Director of Leadership Development at Farr Associates, will present “High Performance Leadership: Preparing the Next Generation of Leaders of Family Business” at the first of the quarterly forums Sept 22. Dr. Swavely will discuss personality as a tool of leadership, highlighting the Leadership Strategies Model (LSM) and the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI).

Swavely earned his Ph.D. in clinical neuropsychology from Georgia State University, and founded the Neuropsychological Assessment Laboratory in the Department of Physical Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). His current professional interests focus on the application of behavioral and neuropsychological technology to leadership development, executive coaching, and team development.

“High Performance Leadership” is 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Sept. 22 at the Graylyn Conference Center, 1900 Reynolda Road, in Winston-Salem.

In the second quarterly forum on Nov. 2, Wendy Yuengling Baker will talk about the marketing strategy behind Yuengling Brewery’s latest ad campaign which focuses on the family heritage of the 180-year-old business. Baker, a member of the sixth generation, will share her family history and the factors that have contributed to their company’s success and remarkable longevity.

The forum will also include a panel of local marketers, moderated by Brad Bennett of Wildfire Ideas. Representatives from companies including Cheerwine, Neese Country Sausage, TW Garner, Carswell Distributing Company and The Monaghan Group will share the strategies behind their marketing communications. Professor Roger Beahm will provide an academic framework for the real life case studies from the previous segments, and highlight the pros and cons of leveraging the family name in developing a brand.

“Branding the Family Name: The Pro’s and Con’s of Putting Your Name of the Line” is 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm. on Nov. 2 at the Graylyn Conference Center, 1900 Reynolda Road, in Winston-Salem.

Family Business Center forums are only open to Family Business Center members, sponsors and their guests. For information on FBC membership and guest policies, please contact Kathy Baker at (336) 758-3568. Member dues and corporate sponsors BB&T Wealth Management and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice fund the Family Business Center in the Triad.

The Family Business Center, established in 1999 under the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship in the Wake Forest University Schools of Business, addresses issues faced by closely held and family firms. The member-based organization uses the capabilities and educational resources at Wake Forest, in the community and beyond to provide closely held and family firms the assistance they need to grow and succeed from generation to generation.