The Columbia Family Business Club Presents:

Values and the Family Business: How Family Firms Can Improve Their Long-run Survival

Tuesday, October 5th
12:30-2:00pm
Warren Hall Classroom 416

RSVP today!

Family businesses constitute a significant segment of the economy in the United States and an even larger proportion of the global economy. In fact, 80 of businesses worldwide are classified as "family businesses" and, like all businesses, owners go through various stages of growth and critical survival challenges that can lead to the demise of their continuity from one generation to the next.  In fact, this is not uncommon for family businesses.   Statistics show for those family firms that do survive, fewer than one in three survive through a second generation of leadership. The odds dive to one in 10 among those that reach a third generation.

So, how did a company in Austria manage to continue to survive, and thrive, not three or even five but for SEVEN generations later?  Companies with a documented history going back more than 500 years are very rare throughout the world. Gebrüder Weiss, Austria's oldest forwarding company and to this day family-owned, is such a company.

Please join members of the Columbia Family Business Club to hear from Paul and Heidi Senger-Weiss, owners of The Gebrüder Weiss Group, talk about the long and varied history of their company and the family business values that helps them continue to strive more than 500 years later.

The Gebrüder Weiss Group
The Gebrüder Weiss Group with its headquarters in Lauterach (Vorarlberg) has over 4,500 employees at 137 locations worldwide. The network includes branches, factories and sites in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, India, the Peoples' Republic of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, the USA and Canada. In the 2009 financial year, the logistics services provider achieved a net turnover of 830 million euros.

Don't miss this great event!  RSVP today!