The Business Alumni Chapter, in partnership with SouthFlorida CEO and the Real Estate Alumni Affinity Council, hosted its SouthFlorida CEO Speaker Series on Wednesday, February 8 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at Mosaico Restaurant, featuring Jessica Goldman-Srebnick, partner and COO of Goldman Properties’ Hospitality Division.

Goldman-Srebnick offered a unique perspective on the dynamics of a successful family business through her discussion titled “The Evolution of a Family Business—From the Dining Room to the Boardroom.”

The 35-year-old businesswoman gave a personal account of how her family built Goldman Properties into a premier boutique real estate leader in the field of neighborhood revitalization in urban pedestrian centers, with properties in New York, Miami, Philadelphia and Boston. She also explained how to formulate effective family/business goals, integrate practices that lead to highly performing companies, and incorporate professional managers.

“The SouthFlorida CEO Speaker Series exposes our alumni to the expertise of South Florida’s business leaders on the latest in various business trends,” said Arturo Aviles, Business Alumni Chapter director of the Speaker Series.

Godllman-Srebnick shared the following statistics about family-owned businesses:

• More than 90 percent of all business enterprises in the United States are family-owned, and nearly 35 percent of Fortune 500 companies are family firms

• Family businesses account for 78 percent of all new jobs created. Approximately 30 percent of all family-owned businesses survive into the second generation, and 12 percent will be viable into the third generation.

• Only 3 percent of all family businesses operate at the fourth generation level and beyond

• In the next five years, 30 percent of family-owned firms will experience a change in leadership due to retirement or semi-retirement, with approximately $10.4 trillion of net worth being transferred by the year 2040.

• Twenty five percent of senior generation family business shareholders have not completed any estate planning other than writing a will; 80 percent want the business to stay in the family, and 20 percent are not confident of the next generation’s commitment to the business. (Source: University of North Carolina—Ashville)