New Family Business Videos Reveal Difficulties, Successes in Transitioning to Next Generation, Giving Back to Community
Family Enterprise USA’s President Pat Soldano Interviews Leaders of Thompson Realty Group and Lippow Development Co.
The struggles and successes of starting, transitioning a multi-generational family business, and giving back to communities, come to life in two new videos released by Family Enterprise USA.
The videos, hosted by Pat Soldano, President of Family Enterprise USA, spotlight Kent Thompson, President of Thompson Realty Group, Lincoln, Neb., and Larry Lippow, President and CEO of Lippow Development Co., Martinez, Calif.
Thompson, interviewed from his home in Lincoln, details how his 33-year commercial realty company has grown from its small Nebraska beginnings to owning and operating 60 commercial buildings from Denver to Chicago.
Twice a year we have family meetings, and we review our family trust agreements with family members and spouses,” said Thompson. “We want family members actually engaged in the business and community. We prefer to help build things locally, rather than take beach vacations. We feel very rewarded by these experiences.”
As part of its far-reaching community involvement, the Thompson family has built schools and other projects in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Africa.
Lippow Development’s Larry Lippow, a third-generation commercial real estate family business owner, is readying the reigns for the fourth generation.
We train our next generation of family leaders to understand that we are the stewards of the family legacy, so they can train the fifth and sixth generation in the same way,” said Lippow, from his office in Martinez, east of San Francisco. Lippow’s business, founded over 100 years ago by the CEO’s grandfather Leo Lippow, is the oldest operating business in the city. The company owns and operates properties in California and Arizona.
We are not big, but we are three generations strong, but we want our multi-generational business to thrive, and high taxes worry us,” said Lippow. “That is why we are diversifying and moving our business into other states. We will never leave California, but we look at our high taxes, and estate taxes, and they are a real challenge for us going forward.”
America’s family businesses represent 59% of the country’s private workforce, or some 83.3 million U.S. jobs, research shows. In a recent survey by Family Enterprise USA, it was found family businesses in America consisted of 23.7% in manufacturing, 10.4% in construction/facilities, and 9.75% in real estate.
“We hope these multi-generational family business stories help bring to life the stories of America’s family businesses,” said Soldano, who is also President of the Policy and Taxation Group. “There are many challenges multi-generational family businesses face just trying to survive,” she said. “Too often estate tax bills force families to sell, income taxes drive business out of state, and over-regulation make family businesses uncompetitive. These videos are designed to bring some of those struggles to light.”
To watch the full interview with go to: www.youtube.com/@familyenterpriseusa5848
If you have a family business and a story to tell about your success and/or challenges go to www.familyenterpriseusa and visit the Family Business Stories page.
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The need for fact-based reporting of issues important to multi generational businesses and protecting a lifetime of savings has never been greater. Now more than ever, multi generational businesses and family businesses are under fire. That's why Family Enterprise USA is passionately working to increase the awareness of issues important to generationally-owned family businesses built on hard work, while continuing to strengthen our presence on Capitol Hill. The issues we fight for or against with Congress in Washington DC include high income tax rates, possible elimination of valuation discounts, increase in capital gains tax, enactment of a wealth tax, and the continued burden of the gift tax, estate tax and generation skipping tax.
Family Enterprise USA promotes generationally owned family business creation, growth, viability, and sustainability by advocating for family businesses and their lifetime of savings with Congress in Washington DC. Since 2007, Family Enterprise USA has represented and celebrated all sizes, professions and industries of family-owned enterprises and multi-generational employers. It is a bi-partisan 501.c3 organization. Family foundations can donate.
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