DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire Center for Family Business kicks off the new year of business programming with the panel discussion "A Taste of Family Business Solutions" Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. 

The program begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester. Breakfast and registration begins at 8 a.m., followed by lunch and networking at noon. The panel topics and participants are as follows:

The Healthy Family Business: Everett Moitoza, Moitoza Consulting
Families who actively manage their firm using wellness-based vs. deficit models are more likely to succeed and prosper. Moitoza will present and discuss the top 10 characteristics of a healthy family business.

Role of Valuation in Business Planning: Jeremy Weir, Management Planning
From purchasing new equipment or a competitor to strategic planning and business succession, Weir will cover how understanding the value of what you have, of what you expect, and what you need enhances the business decision.

Governance: Wilfred "Jack" Sanders Jr., Pierce Atwood
Does your business have a clear governance structure? Does it anticipate succession? Sanders will discuss governance models and suggestions of what might fit for your business.

Kids Entitlements-Wealth and its Consequences: Andrew Lee, Andrew D. Lee and Company
Lee will cover dealing with the good intensions that families have to raise financially, thoughtful children.

Obtaining Bank Financing: William Young, Optima Bank and Trust
Young will discuss how to successfully obtain bank financing, including tips on some innovative lending programs available to family businesses.

Top Tax Planning Strategies: Tim Hepburn, Baker Newman Noyes
Hepburn will discuss important year-end tax planning strategies and opportunities for this election year.

Converting Business Equity to Sustainable Income: Jim Fitts, Harvest Capital
Fitts will discuss how to have confidence that your business equity can be converted into sustainable income and why a goal-based investment strategy is necessary for getting this correct.

To register or become a member of the UNH Center for Family Business, call Barbara Draper at 603-862-1107, or e-mail her at barbara.draper@unh.edu. The event is free to members. A one-time registration fee of $99 a person or $250 a family will be charged to 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.; Harvest Capital; 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 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.

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