 Feature
Story
Florida
Entrepreneur and Family Business Center
Giving Business a Boost
By Carol Cortright
As much as the silver minarets symbolize Tampa’s
skyline, these familiar Moorish domes atop the
University of Tampa also represent a shining example of
the entrepreneur’s can-do spirit and the endless
possibilities of the ambitious businessperson.
The university stands as a testament to an earlier
entrepreneur, Henry B. Plant, a railroad and shipping
magnate who branched out into luxury
accommodation-building to foster the growth of his other
industries. The 511-room winter resort, completed in
1891, became an institution of higher learning in 1933.
Now the university is home to the Florida Entrepreneur
and Family Business Center, open not only to students,
but to anyone interested in making his businesses grow
and thrive. Illustrating the breadth of its resources,
the center earned the Family Firm Institute’s
prestigious 2006 Interdisciplinary Program Award after
merging with the Tampa Bay Family Business Forum, a
previously independent network of family businesses and
professionals.
The high percentage of long-term family-owned businesses
in Florida helps give it a solid foundation, according
to Dr. Dianne Welsh, Director of the Florida
Entrepreneur & Family Business Center, under the
auspices of the university’s Sykes College of Business.
Her colleague, Dr. Joseph McCann, provides some
noteworthy examples right here in the
Tampa Bay region.
“Evatone and Creative Recycling were both nationally
recognized, award winning, family-owned businesses,” he
says, “and Raymond James and Tech Data have those roots
and have become giants.”
One of the goals of the center is to promote those
success stories and help the community gain inspiration
from knowing that it is entirely possible for newer
companies to thrive. Some of those recognized in the
past include K-Force, Outback and Sykes. In fact, the
Outstanding Florida Family Business of the Year Awards
program is the center’s flagship event, honoring top
family companies from around the state. Watch for it to
come around again in March 2008.
Because of the high quality and variety of resources
offered at the center, business owners can reap the
benefits of an extensive network of skilled
professionals, sometimes enjoying one-on-one
consultations with experts in highly specialized fields.
Some of the advice, says McCann, is even provided
directly from the staff, since many involved in the
business school have started or run companies in
addition to teaching and researching.
When business owners find themselves too wrapped up in
the daily grind to worry about long-term strategies,
help is available, for a nominal fee, in the form of the
Strategic Analysis Program, prepared by students of the
business school’s Naimoli Institute. Since 1993, student
teams have analyzed participating companies and their
industries and provided comprehensive consultations,
including recommendations for improvement.
“We also have a wonderful internship program,” Welsh
says. Students share their current classroom training
and have the chance to put it into practice, while
business owners get the advantage of fresh ideas and can
show the students how things work in the real world. The
program strives to match students with
interest-appropriate businesses.
The center’s family-owned business component aims for
next generation succession planning. All too often,
family members who fall into the “me generation”
experience real uncertainty, plagued by questions such
as, “Do I really want to stay in the business?” and
“What can I contribute?” Those answers might be found by
participating in a new program coming in 2008. Growing
Force: Leadership Development for the Next Generation is
specifically targeted to sons and daughters in line to
run the family business. McCann says this program will
be unlike any other in the nation.
“A third to a half of our business school students are
in line for a family business,” Welsh points out. “They
are a real asset if the business has been operating the
same way for too long. They are at a prime point in
their lives to take the business to the next level so
the marketplace doesn’t pass them by.”
The center helps family enterprises see the two distinct
realms in their operations. Half of it is the family
side—the relationships, the culture, the home and
hearth. The other side is all business—the numbers, the
product, the nuts and bolts. The key is learning to make
both sides work together in harmony. Sometimes, a
personality analysis of the family members can shed
light on opening up more effective communication.
Furthermore, the next generation needs to be savvy
enough to take the family business into the future—and
into an ever-increasing international economy. They must
be prepared to work with clients and vendors across
global cultures. “Indian culture is very different from
Middle Eastern culture,” she says. “How do you deal with
that?”
For starters, you get in touch with the Florida
Entrepreneur and Family Business Center at the
University of Tampa, ASAP.
For more information, visit
www.ut.edu/academics/business/fep
or contact Dr. Dianne Welsh at (813) 253-6221 x1760 or
e-mail dwelsh@ut.edu.
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