some type of networking system, something other than advertising in

a newspaper. So when we do drawings, I don’t just draw a number and

say so and so won such and such. I make it a point of reading a

business

card, who won, what they do, who gave that gift, and where they are

located."

"write-up" and one free advertisement. "And believe me,

people read that magazine to the point of telling me there is a word

misspelled in my column." As a former English teacher, she likes

the deadline challenge of doing research and coming up with new ideas

each month.

municipality.

She plans to visit the mayor or administration of each town,

"learning

all the hidden gems that people don’t know about, to highlight each

of the communities in Mercer County." Not only is this grist for

her magazine column (her specialty is community profiles), but it

provides good answers for the many information requests her office

gets.

location. Mercer’s chambers have member businesses who are located

in Princeton and surrounding townships.

Until now, though, the Princeton members of Mercer’s chamber have

not felt quite equal to the other areas. That’s because the Mercer

chamber makes it a point to schedule twice yearly networking meetings,

breakfasts or card exchanges, for each of its geographical divisions

— except Princeton.

"Our members in Princeton are the ones who wanted to have things

like the other towns," says Frank-White. "Teri McIntire

(director

of advertising and marketing of Palmer Square), is on our board, and

said we ought to form the Princeton division." The Princeton

division’s

first networking session will be a tailgate party at the Princeton

University Stadium for the Brown game on Saturday, October 14, at

noon. Cost: $10 including game ticket. Call 609-393-4143.

This division is not an attempt to move in on the Princeton chamber’s

turf, Frank-White says, merely a response to requests from member

businesses who are located in Princeton. "We met with Katherine

Kish, the Princeton chamber president, to say we are not looking

to compete in any way with Princeton area chamber activities,"

she says. "Businesses located in Princeton can choose to join

the Princeton chamber, the county chamber, or either of the high tech

networking associations — or all of them," says Frank-White.

The opportunity to promote Mercer County can come at unexpected times.

"I was working late one night when a PR company on Madison Avenue

called about a client coming to Washington Township. She was looking

for information on tax rates and schools. I sent her five different

booklets, and each one had exactly what she was looking for. `I’ll

make a deal,’ I told her. `I want you to tell them that the first

thing they have to do is join the Mercer chamber.’"

— Barbara Fox

Top Of Page
Greater Mercer Meetings

Tuesday, September 12

director/curator, Grounds for Sculpture, $30. Grounds for Sculpture,

18 Fairgrounds Road, 609-393-4143 .

Wednesday, September 13

Environmental

Services, $12. Nassau Club, 609-393-4143 .

Tuesday, September 19

Michael Hierl of the Pacesetter Group, Veronica Fielding of Princeton

Partners Interactive Group, and Douglas J. Zeitt of Fox Rothschild,

O’Brien & Frankel, $20, Greenacres Country Club, 609-393-4143 .

Monday, October 2

Community

Fest, $20. Ewing Division. Paul Loser Hall, College of New Jersey,

609-393-4143 .

Wednesday, October 4

development," Douglas H. Palmer, mayor, City of Trenton. $30.

Trenton War Memorial, 609-393-4143 .

Wednesday, October 11

Friday, October 13

By reservation. Sovereign Bank Arena, 609-393-4143 .

Saturday, October 14

Princeton

Division, $10. Princeton Stadium, 609-393-4143 .

Thursday, September 14

Top Of Page
Overcoming the Perils of Family Businesses: Thomas Kaplan

For the past 17 years Bob Fishkin has worked along

side his eldest son in the Perth Amboy camera shop, Fishkin Brothers,

established over 60 years ago by his father and uncle. The business

relationship of father and son today is that of partners. And Fishkin

says this arrangement works well because they have mutual respect

for one another. "We consult each other about everything,"

he says, "from advertising to price structure." This puts

the Fishkins in an elite group of family businesses that have managed

to overcome the usual pitfalls. More frequently, attempts at passing

the reins of a business from one generation to another result in its

demise.

To combat this statistic, family businesses must learn how to deal

with these issues, rather than allow them to fester. Entrepreneurs

can find ways to reduce the frustrations that accompany family

relationships

in the workplace at a half-day breakfast seminar on Thursday,

September

14, at 8:30 a.m. at Fairleigh Dickinson’s campus in Madison. Thomas

E. Kaplan presents "Five Family Business Crises and How to

Avoid Them" as the fifth of an eight-part Family Business Forum

series at the university’s Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial

Studies.

Families join for an annual fee but guests may attend a single seminar

by calling 973-443-8880, or go to

www.fdu.edu/academic/rothman/fambusfor.htm

A mechanical engineer from Ohio Northern University, Class of 1987,

Kaplan has an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College, and a Ph.D. from

Virginia

Commonwealth University. He was the first research fellow in the

Family

Enterprise Center at Kennesaw State University, the first doctoral

level position of its kind in the United States.

At Fairleigh Dickinson, Kaplan is an assistant professor of

entrepreneurial

studies, and much of his consulting work deals with family business

transitions, especially among siblings, and helping business owners

develop effective boards. "In all of our forum sessions, we strive

to provide practical information and processes that families can put

into practice," says Kaplan.

The type of dialogue and on-going communication that Bob and Paul

Fishkin have established is essential, Kaplan believes, for overcoming

family business crises. "Increasingly," he says, "families

wait until problems reach crisis stage to begin dealing with

them."

The five crises typical to family businesses:

business.

group.

into a disaster.

families with whom I work, say that they value accountability.

However,

that’s not enough," contends Dr. Kaplan. "They need to

actively

work to make accountability a part of their family and business

culture.

Many conflicts have their roots in disparities of commitment and

follow-through."

On not talking to each other: "Families that communicate

effectively

make it look easy," says Kaplan. "The truth is, however, that

effective communication takes considerable effort — and this

effort

must be consistent. Otherwise, when family members do get together,

there is great potential for everyone to unleash their frustrations

on everyone else."

Even within family businesses, there are distinct situations. First

generation businesses established by spouses or siblings involve

different

dynamics than those of second or third generations that consist of

more players, who are motivated by various drives, not always in

accord.

"Issues of trust, fairness, leadership, and accountability are

often much different in a sibling team-led business," says Kaplan.

When asked how a large sibling-run company such as Fortunoff’s

department

store succeeds at doing it, he said "By constantly working at

it and not taking anything for granted."

For husband and wife team Sandy and Bernie Newman, partners

for 26 years at Raritan Container Company in New Brunswick, the key

is trust. "We like each other," says Sandy Newman, "and

trust each other’s decisions." If her husband makes a business

decision, she admits, "I really trust that decision, even if it’s

not one I would have made."

Kaplan is optimistic that with the proper skillset and determination,

family businesses can successfully pass from one generation to the

next. "Every generational transition," he says, "is

different

and there is not one best way to thrive over time." For many the

transition is too difficult. Yet, Kaplan maintains, "I believe

too much time is spent talking about family business failure across

generations, and we often fail to appreciate how few `old’ businesses

there are in the United States."

Sandy Newman has seen how family businesses can work: "By working

together, we have the same interests, and we are pulling in the same

direction."

— U. Michael Schumacher

Corrections or additions?

— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.