The University of Illinois at Chicago Family Business Council (FBC) exists to help family businesses and other closely held companies achieve their business goals through a unique peer-support system and related educational programs that provide growth strategies for chief executives, their families, and their businesses. Please review the Family Business Council's website for additional information, www.uic.edu/cba/fbc Family Business Sponsorship In addition to the resources and support of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Family Business Council has five sponsors who help underwrite its mission. These organizations all exhibit a high level of commitment to family-owned businesses, not only from the support they provide the Family Business Council, but also through the services their firms offer to family-owned and other closely-held businesses. Kiara 630-858-3800 Contact Name: Mary Deibert Kiara builds breakaway performance through three character-based building blocks that can change everything. Building Block One creates a self-performance management system based on personal responsibility. Building Block Two develops leadership and management skills through a process of one-on-one executive brainstorming that applies the principles of classic management practices to events occurring within the company. Building Block Three is a method for hiring people who have great character traits - positive, hardworking, and responsible people that you can trust. In other words, Kiara improves the bottom line of the companies that it supports. Please review this website for additional information. Read Kiara's recently published article for Family Business Magazine MassMutual Financial Group - Pearre and Associates, Ltd 312-347-1660 Contact Name: Allen Schiefelbein MassMutual is one of the oldest, largest, and most highly rated life insurance firms in the country. The company and its agencies, such as Pearre and Associates, Limited, sponsor more than 50 university-based family business centers and forums nationwide. They have produced a variety of educational guides, workbooks, videos, and an interactive CD-ROM on family business succession. In addition, MassMutual has sponsored the annual National Family Business of the Year Award, the Family Firm Institute, and the Family Business Specialist Certificate Program at The American College, as well as four national surveys on family businesses. American Chartered Bank 847-540-4501 Contact Name: Michael Moran American Chartered Bank, founded in July 1987, is distinguished by its focus on business owners, providing innovative products and exceptional customer service. We are a commercial bank serving small and mid-sized Chicago businesses and over the years have grown to more than $3 billion in assets. Our focus is to provide high quality service, staff expertise, and outstanding products resulting in very high levels of customer satisfaction and retention. Our sales and service culture encourages customer advocacy and results in high levels of customer retention, but American Chartered Bank's most important characteristic is our insistence on performing better each year. Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella 312-840-7000 Contact Names: Jeff Warren & Jonathan Michael At Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C., we help our clients manage risk by solving their legal problems. We are large enough to provide a wide range of legal services, but small enough to be efficient and flexible in the manner in which those services are provided, we are committed to addressing each legal problem and each client - personally - through one attorney with the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to comprehend a broad spectrum of industries and issues - an attorney committed to understanding the unique nature of that client's business and concerns and possessing the specialized knowledge needed to deliver results. Cray Kaiser 630-953-4900 Contact Names: Deanna Salo CPA & Roger Reitz CPA, CVA Founded in 1972, Cray Kaiser is a certified public accounting firm with three full-service locations in the Chicago metropolitan area. We act as accountants and business consultants to a variety of family-owned businesses in the Midwest. Our aim is to give clients more than just a service, but a competitive advantage. Our focus on closely held/family-owned businesses requires a more intimate knowledge of a client's unique business attributes and environments. Typically, this requires a more direct or hands on approach to evaluating the issues and determining effective solutions for these clients. Whether it's a certified audit, help in filling out a government form, or a critical viewpoint on your business finances, Cray Kaiser can give you an edge.