Guiding family businesses

A family business is more than an enterprise. It is the intersection of personal ties and professional goals – a dynamic environment that requires more than business acumen. It calls for emotional intelligence, mutual respect and a shared vision.

Balancing family relationships with business performance is both a challenge and a strength unique to family businesses, says Lauren Willets, director of the Family Enterprise Center at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

“The Family Enterprise Center encourages open and transparent conversations between family members, creating a trusted community where people realize they’re not alone in their challenges,” she says. “Our research, backed by faculty at a top-tier business school, provides practical guidance. We guide families as they work on policies and create a shared vision for the family and the business.”

Building a community

For nearly 20 years, the center has been helping families overcome challenges, plan for the future and connect with others facing similar issues.

The center has evolved from teaching courses for UNC students to adding experiential learning and opportunities for parents, alumni and their families. Most importantly: They have created an entire family business community for learning.

The center provides structure, frameworks and the hard skills needed to succeed. That’s why continuous learning and community engagement are priorities of the center. Lunch-and-learn sessions; webinar series on topics such as strengthening sibling and cousin partnerships and developing the next generation; convening peer groups; and an annual Family Business Forum are among their best-known offerings.

“Many people find us through word-of-mouth, which speaks to our impact,” says Willets.

Funded primarily by donors, the center does not have affiliation with a commercial service provider – the independence that builds trust with those in need of our services, she says.

“Our community provides a safe space for business leaders to discuss sensitive business matters,” says Willets. “Participants often express relief in discovering others face similar challenges. Being service-provider-free allows us to create a trusting environment without the pressure of sales pitches. This community aspect is a key differentiator for us and contributes significantly to our participants’ learning experiences.”

The center’s mission is to provide next-generation family business leaders with the expertise and resources to develop entrepreneurial, sustainable family enterprises; create and maintain healthy family and working relationships; and be responsible stewards of family business assets.

In 2006, at the dawn of the FEC, co-founder Stephen Miller (BSBA ‘77), an adjunct assistant professor of organizational behavior, taught one course relevant to family businesses. He spent 34 years working as the top non-family executive of the Vanderbilt/Cecil family-owned Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, where he played a key role in making Biltmore the most visited historic home in the U.S. with more than 1 million visitors each year. Having worked for a family business, Miller taught this one course, but thought there could be more offerings.

“Family businesses are different,” he says. “There are advantages and disadvantages to family businesses, and opportunities and challenges that you typically don’t experience in a publicly held business.”

Soon, he connected with Cooper Biersach (JD/MBA ’96), who became a co-founder of the center and is now a professor of the practice of organizational behavior. He asked her to help build out the programs and help people access resources. She was drawn to Miller’s enthusiasm and approach to working with students.

“We both feel like we were called to do this,” she says.

Adventures in family ventures

The center provides coursework for students in the Full-Time MBA Program, Master of Accounting Program and Undergraduate Business Program. Beginning in April 2026, online MBA students will be able to take a family business course. The center also offers courses to other Carolina undergraduate and graduate students for whom the coursework is relevant.

Full-Time MBA students can select the Family Enterprise Focus. They take two required courses on the introduction to family business and the governance and ownership of the family firm, followed by a minimum of three electives that run the gamut between private-wealth management and real estate development. Experiential opportunities include the annual Case Competition for Family Ownership hosted by Cornell University’s Smith Family Initiative and engaging in small group sessions with classmates and family business leaders.”

The Undergraduate Family Business Club on a career trek at PowerCurbers.

Undergraduate students get involved outside of the classroom through the student-led Undergraduate Family Business Club. A favorite activity are treks to meet with UNC alumni who are leaders in family-owned businesses, such as Cheerwine, PowerCurbers, Duplin Winery, Grady-White Boats and Feetures.

From the start, students have brought their families to class for what amounts to live case studies. Over time, center leaders brought in more families, even those not directly connected with a student.

Classes are available to family business leaders outside of formal UNC Kenan-Flagler programs, too. An online course for leaders explores and analyzes continuity challenges and common practices for succession planning and leading enterprises into the future.

Josh Gentine (MBA ‘13) speaks at the 2024 Family Business Forum with Professor Cooper Biersach (JD/MBA ’96).

Center leaders are gearing up for the annual Fall Family Business Forum Oct. 8-9, 2025. It brings family business leaders together to contemplate issues that impact them most. This year’s theme is “From Conflict to Collaboration.” They host “Generational Gem Lunch-and-Learn” sessions with family business experts, such as Josh Gentine (MBA ‘13), third-generation owner and director of Sargento Foods Inc.

The Family Enterprise Center has just launched a podcast, Family Business Matters – Podcast – Apple Podcasts. Episodes cover such topics as the center’s evolution, Miller’s research and interviews with family business leaders.

Finding solutions

Important research about family businesses also comes out of the center. Miller’s research focuses on next-generation leadership development in family-owned enterprises. He surveyed hundreds of family business leaders to discover factors important in developing the next-generation leaders.

A lack of shared vision among family owners and weak next-generation leadership are the biggest reasons why family businesses fail from one generation to the next, he says. He wrote about his findings in “Next-Generation Leadership Development in Family Businesses: The Critical Roles of Shared Vision and Family Climate” in Frontiers in Psychology.

Miller is probably best known for debunking the myth that people must get experience outside the family business to be successful inside it. His findings show that the type of experience, which could come from within the family business, is what matters most.

“Our approach focuses on providing practical, research-backed teaching that participants can immediately apply in their family businesses,” says Willets. “We have been fortunate to have generous donors who believe in the power of this learning community and want to continue to pay it forward for other families and support what’s next for the Family Enterprise Center’s next 20 years.”