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Brunch to honor recipients and their families for the Minnesota Hall of Fame for 2014.

Family Business Center

History & Leadership

The St. Thomas Family Business Center is a nationally recognized source of research, education and outreach. We use practical, holistic approaches to help family businesses grow and thrive.

Contact

Jon Keimig

Director, Family Business Center
Email
jon.keimig@stthomas.edu
Phone Number
(651) 962-4560
Guests clap following a talk at the annual Entrepreneur Awards Ceremony and dinner.

Our History

In 1991, St. Thomas board members Harry McNeely and Gerald Rauenhorst founded the Family Business Center. They were inspired to create the center because of the first-rate education being offered far from the Twin Cities, at schools such as Wharton. Believing that this type of business knowledge should be available locally, they decided to create an organization dedicated to local business families, providing actionable solutions backed by rigorous scholarship.

Today, the Family Business Center hosts more than 140 families at its breakfast series alone. All companies engaged with the center are business families, meaning a family member has either an ownership stake or managerial control of a significant portion of the business, and is interested in passing the business on to heirs. Families come from a variety of industries, and range from less than $1M in annual revenue, to hundreds of millions. Some are St. Thomas alumni-owned businesses and travel from around Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa to attend.

Our Leadership

Jon Keimig
Director
(651) 962-4560
jon.keimig@stthomas.edu

Jon Keimig is the executive director of the University of St. Thomas Family Business Center. He works with families and advisors to understand the challenges facing family businesses and create programming to address these unique needs and help ensure the long-term success of family businesses across our region.

Jon spent three years as the assistant director of the center before becoming the director in 2016 and the executive director in 2023. He received the Certificate of Family Business Advising from the Family Firm Institute and is the 2023 winner of the Hubler Award for Multidisciplinary Service to Family Businesses.

Our board is made up of local business families and advisors who participate in our activities.

Allen Bettis
Legacy Associates

Mary Daugherty
University of St. Thomas

Tim Harris
Ideal Commercial Interiors

Grover Jones
Grover C. Jones & Associates

Paddy McNeely, Chair
Meritex Enterprises

James Moeller
R.F. Moeller

Claire Schafer
Northern Ingredients

 

Margaret A. Tortorella Cronin
Bridgeview Legal Advisors, PLLC

Joseph Wallace
Independent Packing Services

Carla Warner
Warners’ Stellian


Emeritus Board Members
Harry G. McNeely, Jr.
Meritex Enterprises

Gerald Rauenhorst
Opus Corporation

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