In this interactive session, fourth generation sisters Marlies Van Wijhe and Marijke Van Wijhe of Royal Van Wijhe Verf join Windesheim University professor Judith Van Helvert-Beugels to explain the evolution of their 100+ year old Dutch paint manufacturing business into a leading producer of high-quality long-lasting paints and coatings by focusing on sustainability. As the world’s first B-Corp in their industry, these phenomenal sisters discuss their experiences as they integrate environmentally friendly raw materials into their products and work towards their ambitious goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2025. [Host: Prof. Dita Sharma]
Thank you to WCAX for stopping by recently to talk to Family Business Initiative leader, and Schlesinger-Grossman Chair of Family Business here at the Grossman School of Business, Professor Pramodita Sharma.
2021 Winners 1st Row L-R: Lawson’s Finest Liquids, H. N. Williams Store, Inc., 2nd Row L-R: Giroux’s Poultry Farm, Giroux Orchards LLC and Giroux Grain Farm LLC, Healthy Living Market (Photos: Andy Duback)
The 10th annual UVM Grossman School of Business Family Business Awards honored four family businesses in the Keller Room, Ifshin Hall, Friday October 1, 2021.
An independent judging panel, comprised of past winners, local business owners and alumni, selected the winners run by UVM’s alumni based on the following criteria: financial success; governance structures; contributions to the community and industry; and sustainable, innovative business practices or strategies.
Congratulations to our 2021 Family Business Award winners, and thank you to everyone who attended our annual celebration of family enterprises.
A family business is defined as any business involving two or more family members, with a majority of ownership or control belonging to a family. It’s estimated that roughly 90 percent of American businesses are family-owned or controlled, and as family-owned organizations are the most frequently encountered ownership model in the world, some research estimates putting their impact on global GDP at over 70 percent.
This year, the Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition (SG-FECC), hosted annually by the Grossman School of Business comprises 2 events; a virtual event that kicks off September 25, 2021and a planned in-person event beginning January 12, 2022.
The virtual competition, comprising 27 teams representing some of the world’s finest family business programs, includes a preliminary round in October, and culminates with a finals round on November 13, 2021 when the winning undergraduate and graduate teams will be announced by the judges.
In the 2021 competition, the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics team from Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada took top honors in the undergraduate division, while the team from Esade Business School, Spain emerged victorious in the graduate division.
The SG-FECC is a unique, annual competition focused on family businesses, with significant Grossman student planning and hosting involvement, that showcases exceptional undergraduate and master’s students’ case writing, analysis and presentation skills. Students apply the knowledge and expertise they have developed in the classroom toward solving complex family business cases.
For the virtual SG-FECC competition the participating teams are:
In this article, Sharma et al. reveal the different conditions that leverage innovation and harness sustainable growth across family businesses for the long term and across generations.
After 16 years in senior corporate management, Sanjay Sharma realized the conventional business model of profits over environmental stewardship and social equity was deeply flawed. His commitment to changing the status quo led him to academia. Today, he’s the Dean of the Grossman School of Business at the University of Vermont, which is recognized worldwide for its leadership in sustainable business higher education and research.
Third generation President & CEO of State Garden, Inc., Mark DemIchaelis speaks with Tharawat Magazine‘s Tony Sekulich about how his family has grown a sustainable business powerhouse across four generations
DeMichaelis with his daughter, Olivia, a member of the fourth generation and the inspiration behind State Garden‘s flagship brand, Olivia’s Organics.
From a humble start as a wholesale vegetable cart in Boston’s famed produce market, State Garden now operates in a sprawling 170,000 square feet processing center located 5 miles north in the city of Chelsea. Renown across the community for their responsible business practices, dedicated family employees, and robust relationships across all stakeholders, State Garden is keeping large-scale vegetable production green for the planet and the future.
