Event to take place in Flowood September 16–17
Early registration is now open for the University of Mississippi’s 4th Annual “It’s All Relative” Family Business Symposium, scheduled for September 16–17. This year’s event will be held at the Sheraton Flowood Refuge Hotel & Conference Center in Flowood. Hosted by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) on the Ole Miss campus, the event offers family-owned Mississippi businesses, leaders, and employees a unique opportunity to gather, learn, and network around issues vital to their long-term success.
The symposium’s theme will be centered on the critical theme of generational succession and ownership transfer. “This year, we are focusing on generational succession and continuity for your family business,” said Dr. Clay Dibrell, Co-Director of the CIE. “The goal of the symposium is to provide a foundation for all Mississippi family businesses to become more successful by learning cutting edge best practices. I want to stress that this event is for people statewide—it is not just an Ole Miss event.”
The two-day event features keynote presentations from notable Mississippi business leaders, James and Thomas Duff, co-founders of Duff Capital Investors, and Jonathan Jones, CEO of Jones Capital. According to Dibrell, attendees will engage with insightful sessions exploring succession planning, governance, and leadership transitions, as well as case studies from established business figures like Chris Newcomb of Newk’s Eatery and Jeffrey O’Keefe of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Homes.
Additionally, the symposium will include panels of business experts and owners addressing topics like the role of women in family business leadership, wealth management, and employee ownership plans. Social networking receptions and interactive roundtable discussions provide valuable opportunities for attendees to connect and exchange ideas.
“Sustaining and protecting generational wealth can be challenging,” said Dibrell. “However, family businesses are essential to local, regional and global economies. The Ole Miss CIE Legacy Leadership Program is an invaluable resource that encourages the continuity of family business leadership in the state of Mississippi and throughout the Southeastern region.”
Through various initiatives, Dibrell said the seminars fosters generational continuity by inviting family business leaders from diverse industries to share their experiences and challenges—both positive and negative ones—to inspire, learn, and connect with other family business leaders, owners and employees.
“And, this year will certainly be no exception,” said Dibrell.
Dibrell, who has taught entrepreneurship, strategic management and international business courses all over the world before coming to Ole Miss, said. “Our mission is to inspire students at The University of Mississippi—and elsewhere throughout Mississippi—to create innovative businesses through excellent teaching, exceptional service, and world-class research.
“Overall, our purpose is to provide students with the extensive and specific knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to become successful entrepreneurs who create innovative companies that provide valuable services, products, and employment,” said Dibrell.
Mississippi business executive Liza Cirlot Looser—longtime CEO of the international corporate communications firm The Cirlot Agency in Jackson—had previously been Chairman of the Advisory Board with CIE, helping to start the Center and remains active with it. She stressed the importance of Mississippi entrepreneurship, especially after one of her agency’s clients, Sanderson Farms—the last Fortune 1000 company based in the state—sold its operations, which she said hit close to home.
“Not having any publicly-traded companies in Mississippi any longer affected me,” said Looser. “So, Clay and I talked and decided to focus on assisting state-based and family-owned companies through CIE and this symposium is a major part of doing that. We need to grow our own here.”
“Liza was integral in getting this symposium off the ground,” said Dibrell. “And, our goal was to keep money and businesses within this state and help them grow and succeed in any possible way we can. Having speakers like James and Thomas Duff and Jonathan Jones, all three hugely successful business leaders, lend their insights and provide inspiration to attendees at the symposium will no doubt reap future benefits.”
Registration to the event includes access to all sessions, meals, a networking reception, and digital materials and presentations.
For more information, visit olemisscie.com.