Leaders of some of the most successful family businesses credit creating a Board with independent directors as one of the instrumental turning points for their family businesses. Laura Neiman, president and CEO of Neiman Brothers Company, and Dennis Kessler, president and founder of Midwest Family Business Advisors, will take center stage for this virtual panel. She will discuss their points of view on different stages in the process of developing and managing a board of independents for family businesses. Better performance that is a benefit of designing a board with independent directors helps families build wealth inside and outside the business, contribute to their community and causes that are important to all ages and stages of the family.
Laura Neiman
Laura Neiman, President & CEO of Neiman Brothers Company, Inc., joined her family's business immediately upon completion of her BA in Economics and Managerial Finance from Brandeis University. Ms. Neiman represents the third generation of her family who is dedicated to growing and continuing the 100+ year old business that manufactures, processes and distributes a full line of ingredients. Ms. Neiman has been instrumental in developing and expanding the market sectors in which Neiman Brothers operates and she has cultivated new opportunities in the ever changing food industry.
Ms. Neiman is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), The Chicago Network and The Economic Club of Chicago. Ms. Neiman also sits on the Chicago Alumni Board of Brandeis University and the Women’s Board of the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation.
Ms. Neiman lives in Chicago with her husband and two children.
Dennis Kessler
Dennis Kessler is the President and founder of Midwest Family Business Advisors, a firm that specializes in helping families to overcome the challenges inherent in mixing business with family. He advises clients on, family and business succession planning, governance structures, conflict resolution, and strategic planning. Dennis is the former Co-President of FelPro Inc., which was in his family for 80 years. He has served on eight Public and Private Company Boards as well as numerous non-profit Boards. Dennis is a founder of the Private Directors Association which trains Directors and helps companies search for Independent Directors. The PDA also holds training programs that helps companies improve Board effectiveness.
Dennis is a founding member of the Private Directors Association and serves on the Board of Directors. He serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations, including the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation and the Rolfe Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. He is currently a member of the advisory board of DePaul University’s College of Commerce and Washington University in St. Louis’s Engineering School Council. Previously, he served as a member of numerous company Board of Directors including W.E. O’Neil Construction Industries, Fel-Pro, QuesTek Innovations, SWANK Motion Pictures, MFRI, Loyola Family Business Center, and Ideal Industries, Inc., and as Chairman of the Workforce Development Committee of Lake County Partners, IL. He also held positions on the Board of Directors of the Northern Illinois Business Association and was Chairman of Northwestern University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science Advisory Council and others. He currently serves on the Board of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of Lake County.
Dennis enjoys tennis, biking, hiking, and sailing.
Dennis and his wife, Barbara, live in Highland Park, Illinois, and have three grown children.
FREE with the UNI Family Business Center membership
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