The estate tax rules have finally changed IN FAVOR of small and family businesses! But don’t fall asleep at the wheel: The new rules are only good through 2013! The experts at The Family Business Institute have helped hundreds of family and closely held business owners plan for their estates as well as the day-to-day management and ownership succession of their businesses. Learn from the mistakes other business owners routinely make so YOU DON’T BECOME A STATSTIC!

The Wall Street Journal reported that about 4 million of the nation’s 24 million family and closely held businesses – many of them contracting companies – have shut their doors so far during this recession, and 2010 is clearly another challenging year. Stress testing is a new concept for contracting companies that can help answer questions like:

1. What actions do we need to take in order to sustain the company – or even turn things around?
2. If volume and profits decline in 2010, what affect will that create on the company’s cash? Net worth? Ability to secure bonding?
3. How can we predict the financial effects of our decisions on various areas of the company?
4. Will I be able to maintain my lifestyle or cash out of the company one day as I had dreamed?

2010 promises to be a most challenging year for commercial contractors. Backlogs are down, in years, bid lists are way up, and margins are practically non-existent. What do you need to know to SURVIVE the current downturn, turn things around, and re-emerge whole and healthy for the future? Join hosts Wayne Rivers and Bill Provett of CEO Performance Roundtable Program to find out about today's construction landmines and how to avoid the missteps that could cause your company?s downfall.

“Stress tests” for financial institutions have been all over the news this year. They determine if financial institutions have enough capital to withstand the recession and other marketplace turmoil. Family or closely held business (CHB) stress tests work much the same way. Their purpose is to look forward in time to see if a construction company can stay afloat during difficult times or in periods of rapid change.

Stress testing is designed to help tell construction executives where to go next versus typical financial or job cost accounting which tells you only where you’ve been. In this hour long webinar, Dennis Engelbrecht and Wayne Rivers of The Family Business Institute walk through a real life construction company case study.

October 28, 2009 - This week on Dollars & Sense we will discuss the many challenges in starting a business and how planning for the long haul is just as important once the business is established. Our guests this week are; Wayne Rivers who is the co-founder and president of the Family Business Institute, and author of the book You Don’t Have to Die to Win - Success and Succession for Family Businesses. We will also welcome Fabio Viviani, the co-owner and founder of Firenze Osteria in Los Angeles, California, and Edith Yates, a CPA for Baylis and Company.

In the April 2009 Issue, Harvard Business Review (HBR) asked the question, "Who can help the CEO?" The case study dealt with a busy executive who was faced with a number of pressing business challenges. Two of the three HBR experts recommended CEO peer groups. Since other construction company CEOs either have experienced or will experience the same real world problems you do, it makes for a perfect sharing and advice group.

In this hour long webinar, gain insight from other CEOs on: 
• Business Development - from hiring the right people to setting and achieving goals 
• Marketing Planning - a subset of your overall business plan and what works best for the construction market 
• Supporting Business Development and Marketing - what else should be top priorities in a tough market.

In matters of cash flow and marketing, a family/closely-held business is the same as any other small business, but they also have significant differences and face unique challenges especially when it's time to talk retirement, resale, or transitioning the business to the next generation.

To succeed, family business owners must sharpen their marketing skills, define individual responsibilities, and maybe use the recession to give Cousin Joe a push out the door, says Wayne Rivers, president of the Family Business Institute.

It can be difficult at the top, to say the least - especially in tough times. Where should you as CEO be focusing your attention right now for maximum payoff? How can you survive these tough times and emerge with a more prosperous company in the long run? To help answer these questions, the AGC of America and the Family Business Institute now offer access to the Performance Roundtable Program where CEOs from non-competing companies can openly review their companies and share information in a focused effort to build breakthrough success.