Fifty years ago, when Mike Keating Sr. started an insurance agency in West Hartford, the retired Korean War veteran appreciated personal contact. Email communication was not even an option.<\/p>\n
Now his grandson, Ryan, is vice president of the family-owned Keating Insurance Agency in a different era. As part of learning about current approaches, the younger Keating attended the UConn Family Business Bootcamp.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf my grandfather saw my approach, it would probably make his head spin,\u2019\u2019 Keating said. \u201cBut my father understands the need to merge old-fashioned traditions, such as strong relationships, with new technology.”<\/p>\n
Like the Keating Insurance Agency, about a quarter of all Connecticut businesses are family owned, according to the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. Nationwide, those businesses generated more than 50 percent of the U.S. gross national product in 2013, according to\u00a0Forbes<\/em>.<\/p>\n But family businesses face a unique set of issues, a fact that is recognized by the UConn School of Business, which revamped and re-introduced its program for family entities a year ago.<\/p>\n The UConn Family Business program helps hundreds of companies each month, either with educational courses, networking opportunities, a summer internship program, or referrals to experts who can assist with a specific task. In the past year, the program added an undergraduate course in family business, a student summer internship program, and executive education classes that allow participants to develop greater knowledge of everything from sales strategies to family dynamics.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s great that UConn is realizing the need and opportunity to support family business,\u2019\u2019 Keating said. \u201cIt is kind of appropriate, given that UConn was started by two brothers who donated the land from their family farm to benefit the state!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Homegrown Businesses Tend to Stay<\/strong><\/p>\n Family businesses in Connecticut are a significant contributor both to the economy and employment, said John A. Elliott, dean of the School of Business.<\/p>\n Whether they are household names, like the 350-employee Bigelow Tea Co., or smaller mom-and-pop owned enterprises that serve giants like United Technologies, Electric Boat, or Stanley Black & Decker, family businesses touch all industries, Elliot said.<\/p>\n The UConn Family Business program serves a diverse range of\u00a0 businesses, from real estate to insurance, food products, and construction. The companies are typically small- to medium-sized, and range from first- to fourth-generation family ownership.<\/p>\n Although several universities offer family business consulting, UConn took a different approach, said Professor Lucy Gilson, head of the management department.<\/p>\n The university saw an opportunity to offer executive education to the family business owners, while simultaneously preparing undergraduates for internships, and potentially jobs, within family businesses. \u201cThe UConn family business collaboration allows experts in fields as diverse as family studies and finance to all work together,\u2019\u2019 Gilson said.<\/p>\n Simsbury Bank has been a key sponsor of the program. Other resources have included UConn\u2019s Werth Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the UConn Law Clinic, and the Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC), as well as other schools and colleges at UConn.<\/p>\n Family business members can connect with experts from accountants to social media advisers and finance to operations strategists.<\/p>\n \u201cOur aim is to be their place to turn, their safety net,\u2019\u2019 said Robin Bienemann, entrepreneur-in-residence and program director.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile its easy for the corporate giants of the world to pack up and move elsewhere, family businesses just don\u2019t do that,” she said. “They are much more likely to stay in Connecticut because their business has been here for generations. It is our goal to keep them here, keep them strong, and help them over the obstacles that they encounter.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Passing the Torch<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the big sources of tension in family businesses is passing the torch to the next generation. Families can be especially reticent to change the way things are done and to trust a new generation with the company they\u2019ve worked so hard to build, Bienemann said.<\/p>\n Miller Foods Inc. is a family-owned and operated company that has been producing top-quality poultry products and unique gourmet foods for more than 50 years.<\/p>\n Carolyn \u201cAuntie Cal\u2019\u2019 Miller-Stevens can remember when thousands of turkeys roamed the family property on Arch Road in Avon. Today the company has branched out, adding e-commerce and a line of dog food and treats to its business.<\/p>\n \u201cOur business, like every business, is changing and evolving,\u2019\u2019 said Capri Frank, a UConn alumna, whose grandparents founded the business. \u201cWhat\u2019s unique about a family business is that you have to know everything<\/em> about it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Today one of her key roles, she said, is to bridge the gap between generations, with employees who range in age from their 30s to their 70s.<\/p>\n While Miller Foods has welcomed its fourth generation of business leaders, Frank said she knows they are the exception. Fewer than 5 percent of all family businesses make it to the third generation, and that\u2019s an unfortunate statistic, she said.<\/p>\n Frank, and Kim Sirois Pita, founder of the marketing and public relations firm Pita Peaces, were instrumental in creating UConn\u2019s program, recognizing that a broad knowledge base is crucial for a family business to thrive.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat links us together is a shared commitment to making our companies thrive, and a passion for business in Connecticut,\u2019\u2019 Frank said. \u201cWe want to strengthen the Connecticut economy through our connections.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Through the Family Business program, Frank said, she can share the things she\u2019s learned as well as the lessons she missed, she said.<\/p>\n The Legacy Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n When Kevin Quiros\u2019 father started HFM Wealth Management Inc. of Hartford in 1989, it was a particularly proud event for the Quiros family. His father, an immigrant from Colombia, had come to this country as a young boy. To own his own business, in his new homeland, was his dream.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came here with nothing and eventually owned a business in the United States, and he\u2019s very proud of that,\u2019\u2019 said Quiros, a wealth manager, who earned his MBA from UConn in 2004. \u201cIt keeps everyone humble. He reminds family that it could all disappear quickly if the business doesn\u2019t thrive and remain successful.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The company is dedicated to serving families and educating people on estate and inheritance planning.\u00a0At times, the generations have disagreed on business tactics, but never on the fundamental goal of the company.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve heard of family businesses where Generation 2 has no voice and the leadership won\u2019t give up control. That\u2019s not good for business,\u2019\u2019 Quiros said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad and I sometimes disagree, but when we do, there is no ego involved. We are focused on what\u2019s good for business, for our clients, for our employees … It\u2019s something you have to work at, like a marriage. You have to make it work. And if there\u2019s a problem, you have to talk about it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n In the back of his mind, Quiros said, is the idea that perhaps his young daughters, ages 7 and 8, might want to enter the family\u2019s financial business later in their lives. He hopes UConn continues a strong program to mentor all students, but especially those who might take the reins of family businesses in the next generation.<\/p>\n \u201cI want the UConn School of Business to be our base, our voice, a place where we can collaborate on our experiences, challenges, the things we\u2019ve done well and those we didn\u2019t do right,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThis is a resource to extend the reach, and build the economy locally. I\u2019m excited about it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Student writer Janine Coppola contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Family businesses face a unique set of issues, a fact that is recognized by the UConn School of Business, which revamped and re-introduced its program for family entities a year ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":145182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2193,1862,92,2225],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-145610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-hartford-county","category-busn","category-uconn-hartford","category-uconn-storrs"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 02:23:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145610"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145711,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145610\/revisions\/145711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/145182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145610"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=145610"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=145610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}