When a crisis becomes chronic, where is hope?
Dear members, friends, and colleagues:
Here at the Family Business Center we’ve been thinking about how shocked we all were when the COVID-19 crisis first manifested, and how rapidly our businesses, families, and communities have had to shift and change. Now, a few weeks in, many of us have accepted this new normal and are trying to manage.
Is the light at the end of the tunnel a way out or a train barreling down the tracks?
When you don’t know what’s coming it’s important to focus on using all the tools in your belt. One of these tools is hope. Family businesses are strong and resilient—sometimes exceptionally so. For many of you, your family business history includes stories about overcoming seemingly insurmountable circumstances. Over the years, members from our family business community have shared tales of resourcefulness and invention—when hard work, sacrifice, and innovation turned a crisis into an opportunity for growth. This is where hope and grit intersect to become determination.
It helps to hear these types of stories from other family businesses. So we invite you to share what you are doing to survive, be of service, or even thrive in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic. We’ll take whatever you’ve got, even if it’s just a few sentences. Our hope is to feature some of these stories in the weeks ahead.
This week’s story of resilience comes from Carl Buddig and Company
The Buddig businesses have been tasked with producing and meeting an unprecedented demand for shelf stable meat products for grocery stores. Because of this, they need to hire extra workers. They recently contacted us to help spread the word within our family business community in the hope of offering potential opportunities to furloughed workers. They are currently hiring temporary warehouse and production help in Munster, IN; South Holland, IL; and Montgomery, IL. For more information, please email Kim Zubrickas at the link below.
Help is coming and it’s free!
In the weeks ahead, we will be offering a series of free, bi-weekly webinars to help you, your family, and your business manage and maintain hope. The first is scheduled for Friday, April 3rd at 1:00 p.m. CST. Andrew Keyt will lead a discussion about family business resiliency. We will have more information soon about future webinars in the series, but in the meantime, we hope you'll register at the link below.
Finally, I’ll close with a beautiful message from Loyola’s new Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Norberto Grzywacz, PhD. Dr. Grzywacz shares information about Loyola’s response to COVID-19 and sets the bar for all of us to lead with purpose and look to our true sources of power and inspiration.
Remember to remain hopeful and stay determined. Thank you for all that you do for your families, your employees, your vendors, and your communities!
