Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 14, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 15 Night of a 1000 Laughs A Comedy Night to benefit MassEdCO FEATURING: Thursday, June 14, 2018 7-10 p.m. • Fiddler's Green Pub • 19 Temple Street, Worcester MA Cash Bar • Great Silent Auction Help MassEdCO open doors to the future through education. Tickets in advance: $30 adults; $25 college students Tickets at the door (if available): $35 adults; $30 college students Orlando Baxter Corey Rodrigues Shaun Connolly For more information or to reserve advance tickets, go to https://give.classy.org/MassEdCO-Comedy S U C C E S S I O N P L A N N I N G F O C U S the family business, and on the other are those who've worked outside it. ose who've only been inside, the failure rate is epidemic." e odds can be stacked against prac- tically any small business from the start. But family-run businesses don't have particularly great chances at success as the years go on. Only 12 percent of family businesses last to a third gener- ation and only 3 percent get to a fourth or beyond, according to the national journal Family Business Review. With so much to consider and oen small staffs, those who run family busi- nesses can have little time to consider the long view. Only 57 percent of family businesses have a succession plan in place, a 2016 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found. But such family-business leaders find a deeper reason to want to keep their company running. e Minne- sota nonprofit Family Enterprise USA found in a survey last year 81 percent of owners considered their business to be part of the legacy they leave their children. Nearly half of the respondents led businesses in their third generation or beyond. Ted Clark, the executive director of the Northeastern University Center for Family Business, said a business run by one person who has the authority to make decisions will do well, as will one in which power is spread so evenly no family member can make a power play, he said. In the middle – and those more likely to fail, he said – are ones in which a few family members could easily squabble over the direction of the business. "We're pretty fortunate. I'm an only child," said Bettencourt, the Klem's own- er. "We're very fortunate in that respect." The right combination Salmon Health and Retirement of Westborough has found the right balance with sharing power over the third-generation company. Matt Salmon was made CEO in 2014, working along- side his brother, Andrew, the director of network development, and sister, Kate Salmon-Robinson, who led special projects before retiring last year. e Salmons reached the decision to install Matt as the head of the compa- ny only aer having detailed family meetings first. Just before Matt became CEO, the company formed a board of directors including outside members as well as those from the family. e board will not expand beyond its four Salmon family seats, meaning future generations will have to determine which member represents them on the board. e Salmon family business began in the 1950s and has expanded to in- clude assisted living and care facilities in six locations from Worcester to Sha- ron. Neither Matt, Andrew nor Kate went into the business initially, and Matt said none necessarily planned to at all. Andrew and Kate both worked as nursing home administrators at oth- er companies, and Matt was a physical therapist. A CEO from outside the family ran operations for more than a decade before Matt took the position. "ere was never a plan, certainly from my generation, to work in the family business," Matt said. "We all came on our own path." So did the fourth and fih generation of Worcester's Davis Publications, which started in 1901 as a printing company and now publishes arts textbooks. Wyatt Wade was a teacher and furniture designer before joining the company in 1979 and taking over in 1994 from his father-in-law, Gil Davis. His son, Julian Wade, was a restaurant manager, where he gained an apprecia- tion for the work going into helping to run a company. Wyatt never urged Julian to join Da- vis when he was younger. "I just knew that's not the way to do it," he said. "It has to be attractive for them to want to do it." Julian had no inclination to join the company anyway. "Why would you want all your family to be your bosses?" he said. Julian joined Davis in 2011, gained experience during a challenging time for the company, and became publisher in 2016. "I got to learn every nitty gritty detail of this job because we had to," Julian said. "at was an extremely formidable time." Pass on to the next generation to own and run 52% 48% 41% Pass on to the next generation to own but not run 24% 26% 11% Sell to an outside party 12% 19% 30% Fewer family successions Note: Percent who said "Don't know" or "Other" in each year: 12 (2012), 7 (2014), 18 (2016) Source: PwC 2017 Family Business Survey 2012 2014 2016 More family businesses are considering selling outside the family, according to a 2017 PricewaterhouseCoopers survey. What type of ownership changes are you expecting in the next five years? Wyatt Wade ran Davis Publications until his son, Julian Wade, succeeded him in 2016. Julian is the fifth generation of the family to run the Worcester business. PHOTO/GRANT WELKER W

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