DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire Center for Family Business will host "Strategic Planning for the Family Business" Wednesday, April 4, 2012. The program begins at 8 a.m. with breakfast at New Hampshire Distributors, 65 Regional Drive, Concord, and will be followed by lunch and networking at noon.

A panel of family business experts and owners will discuss strategic planning for the business, planning for the family, and planning for unexpected emergencies and natural disasters. Participants will learn about how the strategic planning process can help define long-term goals, improve communication and teamwork among employees and family members, assist in dealing with change, and manage the transition of ownership and leadership of the company.

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

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 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

-30-