CHICAGO – On Tuesday, March 28, current owners and successors throughout the companies of The Unified Group made their way to Chicago for the 2023 Succession Planning Forum. With a brand-new meeting that has never been done before, members were excited and eager to begin learning about an essential topic. Succession is an ongoing task that requires a great amount of time, energy, and effort from the entire business.

“The highlight from the session is knowing that we are on the right path to a successful transition,” Andy Carver of Adrian Mechanical Services said.

Overall, this meeting was structured differently from other meetings in the way that The Unified Group hosted three guest facilitators from Radical Guidance Consulting and Grinnell Leadership, who were in charge of directing the entire session. Randy Nemchin was tasked with the group of next generation, while Craig Woodall and Erika Wickstrom worked with the owners. When the full group was together, the three facilitators bounced off each other’s ideas.

The session started with everyone together for welcome and introductions, but immediately was split into separate training sessions – one room was the current ownership, the other was the upcoming generation. In the owners’ group, the focus was accommodating the three sides of business – technical, administrative, and human relations. Whereas the next generation focused on adapting to change, leadership, and fears. After lunch, the groups reunited to speak on conforming to change, with large group discussions and exercises.

“I really liked everybody’s openness of sharing processes during the discussions,” Scot Hottel of Harvey W. Hottel, Inc. said. “It was very enlightening.”

Day two began with a full-group recap, and shortly split into the two groups. The owners dug into each company’s succession plan they are undergoing, with a lesson in timeline, successors, backfill, business valuation, finances/funding, and much more. The next generation focused on trust and integrity, and how the two are correlated to provide optimal success. After lunch the two groups came back together to dive further into the nitty gritty of the succession process.

“This was a very informative session that allowed a caring group of people to work through very challenging topics,” Kelly True of General Sheet Metal said.

Overall, the Succession Planning Forum was extremely successful and valuable for all attendees. Each member shared their biggest takeaway(s) and processes they plan to implement within their companies.

Upcoming sessions include Small/Special Projects, Construction, Safety Directors’, and many more! If your company is interested in learning more about membership with The Unified Group, contact Janet Kelleher at KelleherJ@theunifiedgroup.com.