Local business leader to head up Women's Family Business Group

Joanne Ladley

Family business entrepreneur, consultant, and business coach Joanne Ladley will facilitate the Women's Affinity Group in 2011-12, for the S. Dale High Center for Family Business at Elizabethtown College, Center officials announced today.

"Joanne brings decades of experience operating and growing a very successful business. She is an exemplar who can offer women who also own and operate family businesses a great deal of expertise," said Michael N. McGrann, executive director of the High Center.

Joanne Ladley is an owner of Kitchen Kettle Village, her family business, a Lancaster County hospitality enterprise located in Intercourse, Pennsylvania. There, she led operations, marketing, and administration for 30 years, during which time Kitchen Kettle Village grew to include 40 shops, restaurants, and lodging rooms.

She is also the founder of Kitchen Kettle University, which teaches small businesspeople how to grow their business. Besides family business consulting with the North Group, she specializes in Corporate Culture, Executive Coaching, and Leadership Team Facilitation.

Five times yearly, the Women's Affinity Group meets at Elizabethtown College to discuss issues from the unique perspective of the woman owner or principal in family business. The group is both a discussion forum, which has gained popularity among family business professionals, and an accountability group which requires participants to articulate and meet their stated goals toward professional and personal growth. This year, each group meeting will focus on aspects of leadership such as strategic leadership, advocacy, and leading by asking questions.
The Women's Affinity Group is a fee-based program founded in 2009 by former director Mary Beth Matteo, and is one of five discussion forums based on the level of experience within family- or closely held businesses offered for Center members. It meets five times a year at the High Center and is currently accepting enrollees. The theme for this year's group meetings is women in leadership.
More information on High Center membership or participation in the Women's Affinity Group is available at 717-361-1275 or at fbc@etown.edu.

Relationship Doctor to Serve Women Executives in Family Business

Dr. Rita DeMaria
 relationship expert

Every woman who works in a family businesses knows the unique challenges she faces, whether she's a family member or a non-family principal. Whole books have been written about the particular qualities that women bring to their family businesses to ensure business success and sometimes survival. None are more keenly aware of the dilemmas and conflicts that affect women than the women who work in family  businesses.

That's why we are offering a unique forum at the S. Dale High Center--an Affinity Group for Women and Non-Family Women Executives in Family Business, on three Thursday mornings in 2011 (February 3, April 7, and June 2)--with two new twists.

First, Dr. Rita DeMaria, a renowned therapist and author, is joining the Women's Affinity Group, or face-to-face discussion forum, as a co-facilitator. She brings an invaluable level of communications expertise to help more women realize more success in their family businesses, whatever their roles.

Second twist: Because of Dr. DeMaria's participation, we are opening up the Women's Affinity Group (and only this group) to non-members of the Center in 2011.

For S. Dale High Center members, the Women's Affinity Group is a fee-based program that costs $300/year. The fee for non-members is $500/year, with no requisite for organizational membership to participate in this group in 2010-11. That means, if your family business isn't ready to join the Center, but you'd like to have a valuable forum to discuss issues and professional challenges with other women in family businesses, now you can do just that.

All meetings are held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Elizabethtown College.
We hope you'll consider this wonderful opportunity to realize unprecedented professional success next year through enhanced communications and relationship skills.

If you're a woman executive or non-family woman principal in a family business and would like to enroll in the Women's Group for 2011, please contact us at fbc@etown.edu or call us at 717-361-1275.

Established in 1995, the S. Dale High Center for Family Business is one of largest resources for family businesses in the United States. Created by a group of business people, family business owners, and representatives of Elizabethtown College, the Center is dedicated to bringing the best available resources to family businesses. Serving Southcentral Pennsylvania and beyond, the Center believes that strengthening entrepreneurial families enhances the community and the economy as well. More information is available at the website (www.centerforfamilybusiness.com), by email fbc@etown.edu or by calling 717.361.1275.