Welcome to the Family Owned Business Institute
The Family Owned Business Institute's mission is to champion and serve family-owned businesses through scholarship, education and advocacy.
In September 1999, the Seidman College of Business and the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce (working with its Family-Owned Business Council) raised $301,000 from a salute to Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos. This became the seed money for the Family Owned Business Institute, housed at the downtown campus of Grand Valley State University.
GVSU becomes first U.S. team to win international business competition
Events
Family Business Ownership: Exploring Rights, Roles, and Responsibilities
May 6, 2025 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM
West Michigan Foundations, Endowments & Family Offices (FEFO) 2025 Macroeconomic Outlook Spring Seminar
May 9, 2025 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM
(From left, Teddy Rounds, Abby Hoffman, team advisor Ana Gonzalez, Alina Ladewig and Justin Quinn pose for a photo at the Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition at the University of Vermont.)
A team of Grand Valley students recently won the Schlesinger Global Family Enterprise Case Competition hosted by the University of Vermont , becoming the first group from the United States to win the event in its 11-year history.
The four-day international competition is open to teams of undergraduate and graduate students and requires participants to act as consultants and analyze family-owned businesses across a spectrum of backgrounds and history. Students submit their findings and recommendations in a 20-minute presentation to judges who grade their decision-making and strategic process.
2024 GLOBAL FAMILY BUSINESS SURVEY AND REPORT
The STEP Project Global Consortium (SPGC) in collaboration with KPMG Private Enterprise is setting out to gain a deeper understanding of the “essence” and impact of legacy in family businesses in a global research survey of family business leaders. GVSU and FOBI are STEP affiliates and we are supporting data collection in West Michigan. Share your views in this 15-minute survey which should be completed by the senior family leader in the family business.
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The 2023 STEP Project Global Consortium - SPGC American Family Business Report
The 2023 STEP Project Global Consortium - SPGC American Family Business Report has launched! At FOBI, we're very excited to share it with the family business community of West Michigan, that supported data collection. It contains information on how family businesses are guiding the sustainability journey.
