DURHAM, N.H. - How will the economy and family-owned businesses fare as we enter the second decade of the 21st century? Business professor Ross Gittell from the University of New Hampshire will present data and forecasts on the economy and offer his advice and insights for family businesses at the next meeting of the UNH Center for Family Business.

"New Decade -- The Economy and Effect on Family Businesses" will be held Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010, at The Derryfield, 625 Mammoth Road, Manchester. The event begins at 8 a.m. with a continental breakfast, with the program following at 8:30 a.m. The program ends at noon, followed by lunch.

Gittell will discuss whether slow growth and high economic uncertainty will continue, and if the end of the federal stimulus and concerns about deficits in Washington, DC, and Concord will result in tax increases and long-term economic malaise. He also will discuss where the business opportunities will be, whether the green economy really is green with profit-making opportunities for family-owned businesses, and what sectors of the economy will be strongest in New Hampshire and for family-owned businesses.

The event also includes a panel of family business owners who will discuss what is happening in their businesses and share ideas for the future.
 
Gittell is James R. Carter Professor and professor of management at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics. He is vice president and forecast manager at the New England Economic Partnership and on the board of the Exeter Trust Company and Exeter Health Services. His economic forecasts and insights have been highlighted in national and state media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio and the Boston Globe. 

Please register by Monday, Sept. 30, 2010. To register or become a member of the Center for Family Business, call Barbara Draper at 603-862-1107, or barbara.draper@unh.edu. For first-time attendees, the cost is $99 per person and $250 per company for nonmembers.

The Center for Family Business, under the UNH Whittemore School of Business and Economics and the UNH Graduate School, is sponsored by Mass Mutual Financial Group, Moitoza Consulting, Baker Newman & Noyes, Pierce Atwood, Management Planning, Inc., and Optima Bank and Trust. It is a membership program to provide owners and managers of entrepreneurial businesses with an opportunity to exchange ideas and information and to discuss business challenges, concerns, and solutions. For more information, visit http://www.familybusiness.unh.edu/.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling more than 12,200 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students.

-30-