Hello EFBC

Dear EFBC Members,

Summer Greetings to all EFBC members! As the warmth of the season envelopes us, we hope you are finding time to relax, rejuvenate, and spend quality moments with loved ones. August marks the peak of summer, and we have some exciting updates and events to share with you.

First and foremost, we would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to our outgoing President, Andy. His dedication and leadership have been instrumental in guiding EFBC to new heights during his tenure. To honor his contributions, we will be hosting a special event on August 2nd, where we can come together to express our gratitude and bid him farewell. Please mark your calendars and join us in celebrating Andy’s achievements.

We are thrilled to announce that I will be assuming the role of President for EFBC in 2024. It is an honor to serve such a vibrant and dynamic business community. I look forward to working closely with all of you and continuing the legacy of excellence established by our past leaders. Together, we will strive to further elevate EFBC and foster an environment of growth and success.

In preparation for the upcoming year, we have assembled a strong team of professionals who will be working alongside me to shape the future of EFBC. Let us extend a warm welcome to Darrin, Bob, Marybeth, and Marcus, etc, who have graciously accepted their respective positions. Their wealth of experience and diverse expertise will undoubtedly contribute to the overall success of our organization.

Looking ahead to 2024, we have already begun the strategic planning process for EFBC. My primary focus for 2024 will be to investigate option for EFBC geographic expansion, as we aim to extend our reach to new markets and communities. By expanding our presence, we can create more opportunities for collaboration and growth, fostering a thriving business ecosystem for our members. We will keep you updated on the progress and initiatives related to this strategic endeavor. For more information on the strategic planning initiatives for 2023 please click here.

As always, we encourage all members to actively engage with EFBC. Your feedback, suggestions, and involvement are crucial in shaping the direction and success of our organization. If you have any ideas or initiatives you would like to propose, please feel free to reach out to me or any member of our leadership team.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to each and every one of you for being a part of the EFBC family. Your unwavering support and participation have been the driving force behind our accomplishments. We are excited to embark on this journey together and create an even more prosperous future for EFBC and its members.

Wishing you all a fantastic August filled with joy, relaxation, and memorable moments. We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming event for Andy on August 2nd.

Dave Horvath
EFBC President 2023-2024

Meet the 2023-2024 EFBC Board of Directors

Excited To Kick Off A New Year With EFBC

Welcome to a new year here at EFBC! I am beyond excited at what our community has planned for the next 12 months, especially with our renewed commitment to our mission. Need a refresher on the mission of EFBC?

Educating and Empowering the People of Entrepreneurial and Family Businesses. 

Lovely as it is, our mission is so much greater than those 10 words on a screen or piece of paper. For me, it encompasses the roots of our organization as much as the branches of our growth. And its meaning impacts all that I strive to accomplish in partnership with all of you.

When I first meet a potential member, education is always where the conversation starts. The depth and breadth of knowledge our community possesses is not only impressive, it is impactful. From access to Strategic Partners to the shared experiences that are so openly given, the education we receive can not be duplicated. Add to that the over 15+ events our Programming Committee plans each year and you start to get a feel for how we live our mission as educators. So, get out your calendar and make sure to save the dates for our Top Three Events for FY24:

1. Summer Social – Wednesday August 2nd. Celebrate summer and our EFBC community at Avli on the Park as we honor 2023 President Andy Sanghani. Registration is open.
2. DePaul University’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center 20th Anniversary – Tuesday, October 17th. Help support our fellow DePaul Center and suitemates as they celebrate this milestone at the University Club of Chicago. Details are still being finalized so mark your calendar and watch your inbox for details.
3. Spring Keynote – Your Planning Committee is still working on securing a speaker for next spring so there are not a lot of details to share just yet. More soon!

Educating and EMPOWERING the people of entrepreneurial and family businesses.

We often say it can be lonely at the top. Truth be told, it can be isolating at any rung of a small business, especially when family is involved. That is where the empowerment that results from our Forum groups makes an impact. After launching Flex Forum last year, and participating in over 10 of those meetings, I know without question that we have a Forum group for anyone in your organization looking for peer support. Still unsure if Forum is right for some of your more junior team members? Make sure we add them to our email list so they attend some of our roundtables or participate in a Community in Forum meeting. Both are great ways for them to get a feel for the empowerment that being in a Forum can bring.

Educating and empowering the PEOPLE of entrepreneurial and family businesses.

It is no secret that the People of EFBC are what inspire me. And as a self-proclaimed “not a salesperson” who has grown into the role of recruiting new members, it is the personal connections I make between members that has made this role so comfortable for me. In the coming months you’ll be hearing from our new Membership Director Marcus Newman and myself as we look to connect personally with every member. We know EFBC grows by the introductions and referrals we all make and we want to make that process as easy and personal as possible.

I am proud to say I will be celebrating my 12th anniversary with EFBC this year. Just as FBC then CFBC and now EFBC has changed and grown, so have I. Thank you for your continued support of both me and the EFBC team. We have much to look forward to together!

Liz Fidanovski
EFBC Executive Director

Thank You, EFBC

This month, EFBC President Andy Sanghani, reflects on his year as president and expresses gratitude towards EFBC as we usher in a new year and look forward to the onboarding of new EFBC president, Dave Horvath!

My year long term as President of EFBC will come to a close in a few days. Like many moments in life, this is bittersweet. This was my first time serving as President of an organization other than Systematics. I’ve learned so much throughout this experience but what is top of mind right now is a feeling of appreciation and admiration for all of those who have served in this position prior to myself. Accepting the opportunity to be in this position is one thing – to make a positive impact is another.

I wanted to say thank you to all who have served along with me. Our board, committees, and strategic partners volunteer their time and energy in an effort to push our organization forward to new heights. Our goal is ultimately to provide our members with as much value as possible from the EFBC.

Also, thank you to Liz, Danielle and Cha Mi for all of the work you do each and every day.

Looking forward to the upcoming new fiscal year, we’ve got the honor of having Dave Horvath and Darrin Shillair as our President and Vice President, respectively. I’m especially excited to have these brilliant minds leading the EFBC. They both bring such diverse perspectives and experiences to the position. Stay tuned as you’ll be hearing more from them very soon.

I look forward to seeing each of you at the Summer Social on August 2nd and many more events to come!

Use What They Give You

This month, EFBC’er Danielle Reidel, reflects on her experience in the Leadership Application Course.

Leadership Application Course. Spring 2023. As a first-time participant in strategic partner, George Karavattuveetils leadership course, I really had no expectations for how the class would run but by the end, I was energized, motivated, and inspired. As a takeaways blog, this is definitely not an exhaustive re-cap of the course content, for that we encourage you sign up and see for yourself! Below are the 6 takeaways I have from the course, one from each week. I hope this blog serves to intrigue the mind, or give reason enough for interest in participating in the course in the future, because I highly recommend it.

1. The Role of the Leader. As an introduction to what the course will entail and the weeks that follow, George did an excellent job setting the stage for the expectations of the course as well as a foundational understanding as to why courses like this are necessary. For me, vision statements have always seemed a little abstract. They’re used in marketing, or you learn about them in new employee orientation, but then you never really hear them again. What I learned and will take from this course is the importance of everyone in an organization truly living the vision and values. It reflects in the work we do, how we engage with each other, and how we engage with the community. You can truly get a sense of belonging when the vision and values and strong and engrained in all aspects of a company.
2. Communication. My favorite course of the series. Whenever I communicate, especially in written form, my biggest goal is to ensure that whatever message I am sending, comes across as direct and clear but that I never want to be condescending or create a tone that may be perceived in any negative manner. George identified a way to take this one step further however and pointed out the importance of two key characteristics when communicating: (1) What do you want them to know & (2) How do you want them to feel. This paradigm shift for me has really leveled up the way in which I communicate. Do I want someone to be excited from my email? To feel informed? To feel supported? Whenever I consciously work to answer both those questions, I have had the best outcomes.
3. Recruitment and Retention. While the content of the course is important, as the series was moving forward this was the point where I realized that my biggest takeaway from a session may only be slightly related to the topic, and that is okay. Being able to take bits and pieces away to tangible execute and keep in mind is one of the most important things I could do to maximize the value of this course. The biggest takeaway from me from this session was to use what people give you and anything said can be measured against you. We should be taking people at their word. If any employee, or anyone else, tells you something, gives you a piece of information, your only option is to use it. If there is a misalignment in their words and actions, then it can be addressed, but we cannot work in the land of assumptions and that I can use in my professional life as well as my personal life.
4. Performance Management. This course focused primarily on expectations. Are we as leaders laying the groundwork for what the expectations are of our staff? Are we clearly communicating those expectations? I think for employees sometimes it can be hard to understand the ramifications of our actions, or non-actions, so a key takeaway was being able to clearly identify the impact of their actions in their work when discussing performance, and again, it is about transparency and clearly identifying the expectations of performance at work.
5. Time Management. The penultimate course. When George talks about time, he focuses a lot on the time spent now to set us up in the future. We often get caught up in being busy, and not having time to set goals, but if we keep in mind that the work we are doing now is setting us up for tomorrow. Rather than telling someone they were wrong in that moment, it is equally important to explain why. People need context or a possible re-direction. “Rather than doing it this way, have you tried…”
6. Organizational Culture. A big piece of the final course of the series was a discussion on DEI. DEI is a hot topic right now and we discussed how we become a successful company that lives DEI? My biggest takeaways were to focus on performance, define expectations, and provide training opportunities for historically underrepresented groups that may have not had opportunities for them like their counterparts. You want to look and see what people have in common, what traits make a successful employee and work from there. And important to note is that differentiating life experiences will only enhance your culture.

Of course, any takeaway that I have been able to apply in my role varies immensely from my peers who were co-enrolled in the course. The collective shared experience does not negate the individual impact of the course on each person. The course is applicable to so many roles. As a key employee, I am able to apply leadership techniques to my processes and programs, while a CEO can apply the skills towards how they chose to interact with their employees and how they develop the policies that guide the vision of the organization. Our next leadership course will be offered in the fall. Leadership Application was a nice segway into Leadership 2.0 Leadership 2.0 offers more opportunities for individual coaching, as well as really level up those top-level managers into C-suite rockstars. Keep an eye out on our website for upcoming dates, and we hope to see you there!

EFBC Members Helping Members: A Sticky Situation

The month, strategic partner, ODEA guest blogged on an opportunity where our members worked together.

One of the most valuable advantages of being a part of the Entrepreneur and Family Business Council (EFBC) is the opportunity to tap into a wealth of knowledge and expertise through collaboration. The ability to collaborate has become a crucial skill for organizations looking to fuel innovation, foster growth, and drive meaningful change within their organizations. EFBC members know the transformative impact of collaboration and its potential to propel them towards a future defined by shared success.

In this blog series, we’ll share stories of some of the powerful collaborations that have been built between EFBC members.

Nyco Products Company Partners with Chicago Glue & Machine to Solve a Sticky Situation

When Nyco Products Company, a specialty manufacturer of high-performance national cleaning brands and private branded chemicals, had an adhesive challenge that needed a solution, they knew just who to call – fellow EFBC member Chicago Glue & Machine (CGM)!

Nyco was searching for an adhesive that would allow a measuring cup to sit securely on top of a bottle during transport. The solution needed to provide durability but also little to no residue when the cup is removed from the bottle. Nyco also wanted to ensure that applying the adhesive to the product would be possible for all employees, even those with disabilities who may or may not be able to grip a glue gun. This is when CGM got involved!

CGM, a supplier of industrial adhesives, equipment, and parts, immediately went to work to find the perfect adhesive solution. They knew that hot melt adhesive wasn’t the answer because it would require an adhesive gun for application. Instead, this sounded like a job for adhesive dots! CGM sent Nyco a few different options to try while they conducted their own testing. In the end, the small but mighty adhesive dots provided the secure hold without the sticky residue that Nyco needed. Problem solved!

Collaboration is a powerful force that propels us towards greater heights. By breaking down silos, leveraging complementary strengths, accelerating innovation, and building strong relationships, collaboration unlocks our collective potential and drives us towards shared success. Yet another benefit of being an EFBC member!

NOTE: Do you have a collaboration to share featuring EFBC members? We want to know! Email Danielle at danielle@myefbc.com so we can feature you in an upcoming Members Helping Members blog.

May President’s Message

Earlier this month EFBC had an event titled “Strategic Partner Night of Knowledge” at Ditka’s in Oakbrook and all of our stars were out! It turned out to be an amazing event as our Strategic Partner firms shared their wisdom and experiences on hot topics in their respective fields. The room was filled with 64 attendees. I appreciate the time and energy that our Strategic Partners put into this evening and this entire year. We are blessed to have some of the finest firms and individuals in their respective fields serving our community.

It is events like this that continue to bring our community together and make us stronger. When I began my term as President of EFBC, I felt it was most important to get as many members as possible to events. Forum is a cornerstone of the EFBC experience and one that nearly all members benefit from. Events are where we all have an opportunity to expand our EFBC community beyond the 7-9 members in our forum.

EFBC is filled with amazing individuals of varying backgrounds and vast experiences to share. If you didn’t make it out to an event this year, I urge you to make it a point to attend at least one next year. You won’t be disappointed.

Andy Sanghani
EFBC President 2022-2023

I’ve Been NOK’d

Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace

The ideal workplace comes in many shapes and sizes; it varies from person to person depending on their individual preferences and needs. However, some common features of one’s “ideal” workplace usually include a positive and supportive culture and opportunities for growth and development. Another feature many include on their list for what makes a place great to work is psychological safety.

What in the world is that? We’re so glad you asked! Psychological safety refers to the belief that individuals can freely express their thoughts, ideas, and concerns without fear of retribution or negative consequences. In the workplace, psychological safety is essential for creating a culture of open communication, innovation, and trust.

When employees feel psychologically safe in their work environment, they are more likely to take risks, share ideas, and ask for help when needed. This fosters collaboration, problem-solving, and innovation, ultimately leading to better business outcomes. Psychological safety is crucial in creating a positive work environment that promotes open communication, innovation, employee well-being, performance, productivity, and trust.

How Emotional Intelligence Plays a Part in Psychological Safety

Emotional intelligence is at the heart of what we do at the Entrepreneur and Family Business Council (EFBC). As a member of EFBC, you already know the value of emotional intelligence but let’s do a quick refresher. Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one’s own emotions and the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence can have a significant impact on psychological safety in the workplace.

When team members have high emotional intelligence, they are better equipped to manage their own emotions and navigate the emotions of others. This can lead to more positive interactions, better communication, and stronger relationships. For executives and managers, emotional intelligence and psychological safety go hand in hand when they are both practiced in the workplace. When managers and executives understand the value of emotional intelligence and work it into their management style, the impact is limitless. It creates an environment that promotes open communication, builds trust between management and team and fosters an overall positive and more productive workplace.

How EFBC Members Create Psychological Safety at the Workplace

We asked some of our members for their own experience with psychological safety and how they work to foster it within their own organizations. Here’s what they said:

“I believe psychological safety needs to be modeled from the top down. Having a safe place to voice concerns, suggest new ideas, ask for help or admit mistakes without fear is very critical. Having your peers actively listen and being able to have open communication is something we try to achieve each week during our Team Lead meetings where we discuss current and future projects as well as reviewing completed projects where we evaluate what we learned and what we could improve.

The more employees feel valued, the more engaged they are, which makes them more motivated. Monthly, new employees meet to ask questions about current processes we have or present new ideas to try. We incorporate as many of their ideas as possible.

Each employee needs to feel comfortable sharing their ideas, especially when collaborating. A simple way to make employees comfortable with one another is to have them get to know each other better. Every Monday morning, we have an all-team meeting where we start with a question and each employee gets their chance to share. Sharing each week in a larger group makes it easier for employees to share their ideas in small group collaborations.”

-Jodi Behrendt, President at Advantage Trailer

“I believe the key to psychological safety is relationships. Relationships are the key to everything. The more we know and trust our teams and employees trust their manager the more open people are.

The first step in building such relationships in our organization is communicating and emphasizing our Core Values: 1) Respect Everyone – listen to others’ perspective; 2) Never Stop Improving – keep on learning; and 3) Be the Owner – hold yourself accountable.

Second, we try to give everyone the tools and training to communicate effectively to build relationships. We have learned that taking small steps and building upon each lesson is most effective. Therefore, we hold quarterly companywide trainings on a particular topic.

Lastly, it is about having frequent conversations with employees in a variety of ways. Managers hold quarterly conversations with their direct reports and each department holds weekly or biweekly meetings. As a company we hold monthly meetings bringing everyone together to share where we are at, where we want to go, and how we are going to get there. Communication, transparency, and follow-up are necessary if you want to build a trusting and safe environment. Show you care.”

-Kim Schrader, HR Manager at Vaxcel International Co.

“Thank you, EFBC. Whether preparing for a presentation or a retreat exercise, I think I get as much value, if not more, from the preparation and reflection. I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on what psychological safety in the workplace means to us at Chicago Glue. For me, this means work family. I define work family as bringing your whole self to work and having each other’s backs.

I learned this because I worked for my dad and knew I could say and do things, take risks, and make mistakes, and because he is my dad, it would be ok.

At Chicago Glue and Machine, if words and actions align with our core values, anything and everything goes. This is a continual work in process. We started by repeatedly asking for feedback in any form, any language, anonymous, or in person. Once people saw we acted, we continued to pick up steam. Our latest way to get feedback is to give everyone challenge and penalty flags to throw. So far, they have been thrown during Zoom meetings and in-person meetings.

Everything has trade-offs, and I never thought about it. Still, upon reflection, the foundation of our company being rooted in family leads to a culture of our family values that include unconditional support.

I believe everybody brings their whole self to work. If the culture doesn’t support that, it is stuffed inside and comes out sideways. However, if it is embraced, the human energy it brings is the primary propeller for the company. For us, our people are our differentiators, so we want them to bring it all!”

-Nirel Inman, Co-president at Chicago Glue & Machine

Overall, creating a culture of psychological safety in the workplace takes time and effort, but it is well worth it. When employees feel safe expressing themselves, they are more engaged, innovative, and productive, which benefits both the individual and the organization as a whole.

Experiences in International Outsourcing

This month, your EFBC president, lent a direct look into his companies experiences in outsourcing employees internationally.

2 weeks ago I traveled to Aguascalientes, a city in Mexico in a state with the same name. The name, “hot waters”, doesn’t describe the sunny shoreline and sandy beaches. Aguascalientes is located in north-central Mexico and unfortunately this wasn’t a vacation to an all inclusive resort. However, I did happen to be there during the San Marcos Fair which is the largest fair in Mexico and one of the largest in Latin America.

Over the past 2 years, we’ve been growing a team of remote employees. What started out as hiring 2 estimators in Aguascalientes has multiplied to 12 in various roles as well as 1 in Macedonia. The roles include estimating, engineering, graphic design, logistics and account management. If you would have asked me 3 years ago whether I thought it would be possible for us to have any remote employees, let alone 13 in a foreign country, I would have have said “No.”

Changes due to Covid, ease of access thanks to technology and shifts in lifestyle are a few reasons why a small business like ours even thought about nearshoring to Mexico. We quickly experienced the great benefits of moving specific operations to a nearby country with a qualified workforce, reduced cost of living and no time difference.

How did we take the first step? With a little bit of luck. A client of ours had offshored their entire sales support and purchasing team to India. I asked myself “If they can do something like that, why can’t we?” I initially felt like India would be tough because of the time difference and not having any business contacts there. We eventually thought about Aguascalientes due to connections that several of our team members have to the city as well as the international business presence – Nissan has 2 factories there which combined produce more than half a million cars per year.

Managing and training the team members in Mexico and Macedonia was the most difficult considering we’re in the Visual Marketing industry. We offer creative design solutions to our clients and follow through with manufacturing. We’ve created a structured onboarding process which incorporates training videos, reading materials and other visuals all kept well organized in Monday.com, a project management workflow application.

During this recent trip we began our search for an office space to allow our team members in Aguascalientes an opportunity to collaborate with each other a few days each week. While we’ve been faced with some resistance to this change but we feel it is key to our company success as well as the individuals.

We’re still learning as we move forward. It isn’t always perfect but it has been exciting to see the team grow in a way I never expected.

Andy Sanghani
EFBC President 2022-2023