A son’s push for planning

In many family businesses, it’s the younger generation that’s eager to charge ahead and the elders who rein them in. At Summer Classics, a Pelham, Ala.-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury outdoor furniture, those roles are reversed. Founder and CEO William Bew White III, known as Bew, is the risk-taker. His son William Bew White IV, known as William, is more cautious.

Bew, 69, says he has an MBA in mistakes — “possibly much more educational than an MBA from Harvard, and a lot more expensive.” 

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