BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Prairie Family Business Association has doubled its membership in North Dakota in the past eight months.
The Prairie Family Business Association was founded in 1993 as South Dakota Family Business Initiative. The association’s mission is to help long-term survival and success of family businesses. It does this through education and networking.
The association’s board of directors decided last March to concentrate on growing in North Dakota, Membership Manager Mike Sojka told The Bismarck Tribune (https://bit.ly/1xnz12T ). Sojka was hired in April to expand the organization into the state.
Since then, North Dakota membership has gone from 19 members in April to 39 members today. The association also has 100 members in its home state of South Dakota, 12 members in Minnesota and 11 members in Iowa.
“I also believe we have expanded because of the referrals I have received from current members,” Sojka said.
Pamela Schmidt of SIA Companies said she spreads the word about the group after the way it has helped benefit her family’s business. The Schmidts joined the association about four or five years ago after hearing about it from one of their consultants.
“At a family business, everyone is really busy,” she said. “Something has to be very worthwhile for us to do it.”
Schmidt runs SIA with her husband and two daughters. The Schmidts started the long-term care insurance business in 1979 in their spare bedroom, at a time when senior rights were starting to gain national attention. The business has since grown to 19 employees.
“It is very difficult to start and maintain a business for decades,” Schmidt said.
That is where the association comes in.
“This organization has been a great resource for helping us with some of the unique challenges that a family owned business can face. They provide training, peer groups and other helpful resources,” said Lorie Pope, co-owner of the custom IT and strategic solutions company Nexus Innovations and another longtime member of the association.
Family businesses not only face normal operational challenges. They have to balance work and home in a whole different way and work decisions can affect personal family relationships as well as the business itself.
Schmidt said during a PFBA event, everyone in the room was asked whether they put family first or business.
“I always said if you take care of the business, the business will take care of the family,” she said.
The event’s discussion reaffirmed Schmidt’s belief. SIA operates like any other business, holding family members accountable with rules and a constitution.
Schmidt said the association also has been helpful with its educational webinars. The Popes agree, saying the association fills that need of a sounding board for family businesses’ unique issues.
“It’s nice to be a part of a group that understands,” Bob Pope said.
Ryan Barth of Bill Barth Ford Mercury Mazda Kia, said he joined the association two years ago and the people he has met can relate to what he goes through as a second generation family business owner.
Barth’s children are only ages 4 and 7. He does not know if they will one day take over the family business but the association has helped him make a plan for both scenarios.
Jordan Pope also is a member of the association’s peer group for second through fourth generation family business members who are transitioning into leadership or just joining the family business.
Jordan Pope had started working at a different company and wanted to change roles. At the same time, Nexus was growing. He joined his parents at their company seven years ago and it has turned into a career. PFBA has helped the Popes with succession planning for when they pass the business on to him.
“We consider it a privilege to have our son join us in the business,” Lori Pope said. “It was ultimately his choice and we are so glad he came on board.”
Pope said all of Nexus’ 13 employees also are like family and PFBA has been a resource for material on how to bring that family culture into the workplace as a whole.
Tracy Kindem, managing partner at H.A. Thompson & Sons, said her father was actively involved in PFBA and she recently joined too.
Kindem is a fourth-generation family business member who recently returned to the family plumbing, heating and air conditioning company.
“Since I’m coming back I don’t want to feel like I’m stepping on someone’s toes,” she said.
Kindem said the association has helped her learn to interact with employees and her family tries to build a relationship with their workers so they don’t come off as a “governing body.”
“In our 14 years, we’ve never run across anything similar to it (PFBA),” Bob Pope said. “It fills a niche.”
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, https://www.bismarcktribune.com
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