Family Business Council

Strategic Partners

In addition to the resources and support of the university, the FBC is proud to have five sponsor-partners who help underwrite its mission. These organizations all exhibit a high level of commitment to family-owned businesses, not only from the support they provide the FBC, but also through the services their firms offer to family-owned and other closely-held businesses. Our sponsors are:

American Chartered Bank
Contact Name: Michael Moran
459 South Rand Road
Lake Zurich, IL 60047
Telephone: (847) 540-4501
Contact Name: Richard Morton
932 W. Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60607
Telephone: (312) 540-4501
www.americanchartered.com

American Chartered Bank, founded in July 1987, is distinguished by its focus on business owners, providing innovative products and exceptional customer service. We are a commercial bank serving small and mid-sized Chicago businesses and over the years have grown to more than $3 billion in assets. Our focus is to provide high quality service, staff expertise, and outstanding products resulting in very high levels of customer satisfaction and retention. Our sales and service culture encourages customer advocacy and results in high levels of customer retention, but American Chartered Bank's most important characteristic is our insistence on performing better each year.

Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella
Contact Names: Jeff Warren & Jonathan Michael
330 North Wabash Avenue, 22nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60611-3607
Telephone: (312) 840-7000
www.burkelaw.com

At Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C., we help our clients manage risk by solving their legal problems. We are large enough to provide a wide range of legal services, but small enough to be efficient and flexible in the manner in which those services are provided, we are committed to addressing each legal problem and each client - personally - through one attorney with the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to comprehend a broad spectrum of industries and issues - an attorney committed to understanding the unique nature of that client's business and concerns and possessing the specialized knowledge needed to deliver results.

Cray Kaiser
Contact Names: Deanna Salo CPA & Roger Reitz CPA, CVA
1901 S. Meyers Road
Suite 230
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Telephone: 630-953-4900
www.craykaiser.com

Founded in 1972, Cray Kaiser is a certified public accounting firm with three full-service locations in the Chicago metropolitan area. We act as accountants and business consultants to a variety of family-owned businesses in the Midwest. Our aim is to give clients more than just a service, but a competitive advantage. Our focus on closely held/family-owned businesses requires a more intimate knowledge of a client's unique business attributes and environments. Typically, this requires a more direct or hands on approach to evaluating the issues and determining effective solutions for these clients. Whether it's a certified audit, help in filling out a government form, or a critical viewpoint on your business finances, Cray Kaiser can give you an edge.


KIARA
Contact Name: Mary Deibert
435 Pennsylvania Avenue
Suite 100
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
Telephone: (630) 534-4600
www.kiara.com

Kiara's people services are unlike any others. Kiara's recruitment process helps family businesses hire quality, high performance people who have great morale and are enjoyable to work with. Kiara® also helps businesses manage their staff through value-driven performance reviews and goal setting processes. In addition, Kiara® offers one-on-one executive and staff personal coaching. All of Kiara's services implement the principles found in extremely successful companies. These principles are described in Jim Collins' best selling book, Good to Great. In other words, Kiara® improves the bottom line of the companies that it supports.



MassMutual Financial Group - Pearre and Associates, Ltd.
Contact Name: Allen Schiefelbein
300 South Wacker Drive
Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606
Telephone: (312) 347-1660
www.massmutual.com

MassMutual is one of the oldest, largest, and most highly rated life insurance firms in the country. The company and its agencies, such as Pearre and Associates, Ltd., sponsor more than 50 university-based family business centers and forums nationwide. They have produced a variety of educational guides, workbooks, videos, and an interactive CD-ROM on family business succession. In addition, MassMutual has sponsored the annual National Family Business of the Year Award, the Family Firm Institute, and the Family Business Specialist Certificate Program at The American College, as well as four national surveys on family businesses.