They’ll have examined subjects essential to their future and their companies’ futures, including management, leadership, family relationships, succession planning, and personal development. The NRCA developed the FEI to further business longevity. The program relies on services of the Family Business Consulting Group, which provides an instructor. Executives are invited to panels and discussions to talk about business issues, share war stories, and examine vital relationships.
The NRCA program grew out of members’ desire to develop the next generation of owners. Through FEI, roofing company executives receive advanced business knowledge specifically applicable to the roofing business.
FEI is held at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, in Chicago. Many professors are tenured Kellogg faculty. All but two students are from family businesses; most of those are multigenerational.
Shelley Satran’s class of 25 will be the second to graduate from FEI, in 2007. “The majority of my class are in their 20s,” she says, “and they’re all moving into leadership positions.”
She spent valuable time during her first one-week session networking with three other women working in the industry.