What Does it Take to Be a Successful Family Business CEO?

In our November/December 2021 edition, Family Business Magazine recognizes a diverse group of family business CEOs for their exceptional leadership. To complement this special feature, we asked three of the CEOs to join us for a webinar discussion on the unique challenges and opportunities of leading a family-owned business.

BDO’s Brooke Anderson and Jeffrey Kane will moderate the session with Jason Andringa, President & CEO of Vermeer Corporation, Donna Peterson, CEO of World Innovators, Inc., and Paul Bartelt, CEO of The Vollrath Company, along with David Shaw, Publishing Director of Family Business Magazine. The interactive webinar will address these topics:

  • What you wish you had known before you became CEO of a family business
  • What impact ESG (environmental, social, governance) initiatives are having on your business and how you’re addressing them
  • How are you and the family business addressing other issues, such as COVID protocols, back to work and diversity initiatives
  • Advice you have for other family business CEOS or those preparing for those roles

If you are the CEO of a family-owned business or aspire to lead your family company, this webinar will offer insights into what it takes to achieve true leadership success.

Family Business Magazine’s “Family Business CEOs to Watch” section is made possible through the sponsorship of BDO.

- Advertisement -

Speakers

speaker-image

Jason Andringa

President & CEO, Vermeer Corporation

Before becoming president and CEO in November 2015, Jason Andringa served as president and chief operating officer at Vermeer, a global industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturing company. His previous roles at the company were president, forage and environmental solutions; vice president, dealer distribution and global accounts; managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (based in the Netherlands); and segment manager, new products and markets in the environmental business segment.

Andringa serves on the Vermeer board of directors and on the board of directors of Raven Industries and the board of advisers for Camcraft Inc. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. He also sits on the board of trustees of the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum.

Before joining Vermeer in 2005, Andringa was an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Calvin College and later completed advanced degrees including a master of science in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.


speaker-image

Donna Peterson

CEO, World Innovators

Donna Peterson is leading World Innovators into

a rapid growth phase and ensuring the company evolves as fast as the marketing industry. The company, which recently celebrated its 41st anniversary, was a list management and brokerage firm at its inception. Today it is a strategic marketing company that assists clients in reaching specific niche areas worldwide. Peterson has been with the company for 33 years.


Peterson was instrumental in producing online business-to-business direct marketing courses, which teach people how to advertise effectively in the B2B space. She’s planning a book and a conference centered on teaching business-to-business direct marketing worldwide.


speaker-image

Paul Bartelt

President & CEO, The Vollrath Company

Paul Bartelt became president and CEO of Vollrath in 2009 after joining the organization as chief operating officer in 2008. Before joining Vollrath, he worked at Kohler Company for nine years, first directing cast iron and stainless steel operations and then as president of the engine division.

Vollrath’s business divisions encompass commercial food service, frozen treat equipment, manufacturing services and cleaning equipment, and consumer cookware and bakeware.

Bartelt has grown Vollrath significantly, both organically and through acquisitions. The company has more than doubled in size, stretching across the United States as well as into Europe and Asia, during his tenure. The growth is a result of expanding not only geographically but also in product and service categories, particularly induction equipment, countertop equipment, serving systems and fabricator components, aluminum cookware and frozen dessert equipment.

Bartelt received his MBA from the University of Iowa and a master of science degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.


speaker-image

Brooke Anderson

Private Client Services National Leader, BDO


Brooke has more than 15 years of experience serving high net worth individuals, their families, family offices, C-suite executives and others with complex tax and financial structures. Her expertise centers on trust administration, fiduciary responsibility, gift taxation, generation skipping transfer taxation and estate taxation and planning. Brooke is skilled in working alongside the clients’ trusted advisors and focusing on assessing current situations, identifying risks and proposing solutions to achieve the most optimal results.

Currently, Brooke leads the firm’s Private Client Services national practice where she is responsible for the strategic growth and operations of the practice. During her career at BDO, she also led the Pittsburgh market as Office Managing Principal of the Tax Practice for several years. Concurrently, she served as the Central Region Private Client Service Leader where she assisted the national leadership team over the last five years in the development of the practice.

Brooke is a current member and Pittsburgh Board Member of YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) which is a global leadership community of chief executives.



Benefits

• No cost to attend
• Opportunity for questions and feedback
• Unbiased third-party family business education
• All participants can receive a copy of the webinar materials after the event, upon request
• All participants receive Family Business Magazine weekly newsletter, with news, tips and trends that impact your family business. You may, of course, opt out at any time.
• 60 minutes — maximum value for time


Sponsor

sponsore-image

About the Author(s)

Related Articles

KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY

The Family Business newsletter. Weekly insight for family business leaders and owners to improve their family dynamics and their businesses.