Shreveport College Center Aids Family Business
Published Mar 07, 2008
Founded in 1825, Centenary College of Louisiana has numerous academic offerings, including an Executive M.B.A. program.
The ivy-covered walls of Centenary College of Louisiana have nurtured generations of undergraduates.
But the 182-year-old school in Shreveport is also cultivating the region’s business potential by helping family-owned businesses grow smarter and rising managers sharpen their skills.
Centenary’s Center for Family-Owned Business brings in some of the brightest business minds from around the country three times a year to tackle the unique problems and opportunities facing family businesses.
“It’s our way of giving back to the community,” says Christopher Martin, dean of Centenary’s Frost School of Business.
Over the past several years, presenters have hailed from such prestigious institutions as Harvard, Stanford and Wharton School of Business. They share information on strategic planning, succession planning, family business councils and managing conflict.
“We’re bringing in world-renowned, prominent speakers to focus strictly on family business issues,” Martin says. “It spurs discussion,” and many attendees end up developing relationships with the presenters.
A family-owned business doesn’t necessarily mean small potatoes. The 35 companies that are currently part of the Center for Family-Owned Business include manufacturers, car dealerships, warehousers and retailers from across Ark-La-Tex and beyond.
“It’s the most important economic growth engine,” Martins says, because these are companies with deep-rooted interests within their communities.
Family-owned companies apply to join the center, which is funded through an endowment. Members pay $1,000 to attend the three annual workshops.
By contrast, a Harvard business seminar might cost $15,000, he says.
To enroll in Centenary’s Executive M.B.A. program, participants must have at least five years of real-world experience and work in leadership positions. The program is geared to building on the workplace knowledge that the students bring with them to class, and giving them tools they can immediately use on the job.
“It makes our classroom extremely relevant,” Martin notes.
Capping the M.B.A. program is a two-person team project that can be tailored to launching a new product or process for the students’ employers or for new entrepreneurial endeavors, he says, adding, “It creates a really unique learning environment.”
Story by Michaela Gipson Morris
Photo by Wes Aldridge
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