Only the Avery case is available for the noon event. The final slides and other resources open automatically on October 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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The slides
Eighteen lessons · the final slides
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Lesson fourteen · the case
The Avery family: who decides?
Avery Building Supply was founded in 1878. The sixth generation came home two years ago, and nobody wrote down what that meant.
| Gen | Who | Owns | Votes | Wants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G4 | Walter, 84, Chairman | 5% of the shares | 100% of the voting shares | Keep it. “Averys don’t sell.” |
| G5 | Tom, 58, CEO · Rick, 55, President | 95%, all non-voting (47.5% each) | None | Sell. Thirty-five years each. |
| G6 | Maggie, 26 (Tom’s daughter) · Caleb, 24 (Rick’s son) | Nothing | None | Stay and run it. |
| — | Ruth, 82, Walter’s wife of 61 years | Nothing | None, so far | Nobody has asked her. |
Years ago, for estate reasons, Walter gave his sons the economics and kept control. Maggie and Caleb were recruited home with “the business needs you.” They left real careers, were promised “a path,” and nothing is in writing.
The offer
Three months ago, Meridian Capital offered $100 million, in cash, with 90 days to close. Tom and Rick would stay three years. The kids “would be evaluated.”
- Tom and Rick want to sell.
- Maggie and Caleb are fighting it. They gave up their lives for this.
- Walter says no, and Walter holds every vote.
Case closed? Keep reading.
Then Walter has a stroke.
He survives, but he no longer recognizes the warehouse, and his doctors will not certify that he can make decisions. Under the company’s own documents, his shares cannot be voted until someone is legally appointed to vote them.
Within a week:
- Meridian calls Tom: “The offer stands for thirty days. Then we move on to the next family.”
- Rick tells Caleb: “This isn’t your decision. You don’t own a share.”
- Walter’s lawyer finds the durable power of attorney. It names Ruth, who has never once been to a shareholders’ meeting.
- Ruth calls the family together: “My values are family and community. Come to me with one approach — together.”
The man with the votes can’t vote. The men with the money can’t vote. And Ruth has thirty days.
Your conversation: two people, six minutes
One of you is a brother — Tom or Rick. The other is one of the kids — Maggie or Caleb. Stay in role. Ruth has set the terms:
“Come to me with one recommended approach. Reach it by consensus. Walk away united, even if none of you gets exactly what you want. Keep the harmony while you work. My values are family and community.”
What do you bring Ruth — sell, keep, or a third way? And what do you tell Meridian in the meantime?
What does each of you give up so the whole family can stand behind one answer?
How does this family stay united through the next thirty days — and after the decision, whichever way it goes?
Be ready to share the one thing you agreed on, and the one thing you fought about.
Your discussion, your conclusions
There is no answer key here. Compare your reasoning with another pair, listen to the differences, and decide for yourselves what you would recommend.
Where did you agree? Where did you disagree? Which person’s perspective changed your thinking?
What assumptions does your plan depend on? What information is missing? What would make you reconsider?
What question does this case raise for your own family? Who would you like to discuss it with?
Take the conversation home
The family enterprise checklist
A conversation guide for your family, not a set of answers from Jason.
Three circles. Different perspectives.
The checklist is organized around family, ownership, and business, using the Three-Circle Model developed by Renato Tagiuri and John Davis. It invites you to consider the roles people hold, whose voices are heard, and how decisions are made across those overlapping groups.
These are original discussion questions adapted to that framework, not an official or endorsed assessment by its creators. There are no prescribed answers or scores. Answer individually, then compare perspectives and choose what to discuss together.
Get your copy directly from Jason
Email Jason to request the checklist, and he’ll send it to you personally.
jpacker@stridefba.com
The button opens your email app with a draft request. Nothing is sent until you send the email.
About the speaker
Jason Packer
Fourth-generation family business leader. Ran his family’s company for sixteen years, sold it, and now spends his time on the part of succession nobody prepares you for: the people.
Jason led Hill & Markes, his family’s foodservice and facilities-supply distributor in New York’s Capital Region, through sixteen years of growth and a 2022 sale to BradyIFS. The wider family also sold Finkle Distributors and Wustefeld Candy, a 120-year-old supplier to convenience stores, and lost one business, Packer Meats, to bankruptcy. Four generations, four businesses: three sold well, one bankruptcy. He teaches from all four.
After the sale, Jason focused on learning and family business advising: dual certifications from the Family Firm Institute in family business advising and family wealth advising (CFBA, CFWA), and training in family systems theory at the Bowen Center. He went on to found Stride Family Business Alliance, a community and advisory practice for multigenerational family businesses.
His advisory work follows the LEP™ process: Roots, Order, Impact, Continuity, Legacy, with five working tools: The Origin Story, The Blueprint, The Footprint, The Handoff, and The Letter. Today’s five chapters are that arc.
Husband to Lisa, dad, Mets fan. Delmar, New York.
The eighteen lessons
- The sights, sounds and smells
- Stories that shaped our culture
- The power of a family constitution
- Agree on how to fight
- The four-room model
- Build governance to promote succession
- The non-family executives
- Peer groups and structure support succession
- Mentors are critical to succession
- Teach successors to listen to and respect employees
- Use change and problems for succession
- Family firms must pivot with the marketplace
- Help the next generation build identity in and outside the business
- Decide who decides
- Be aligned and transparent around exit, and keep your family advisor close
- Prepare for loss after the sale
- Find purpose after the sale
- Find community
New York City · October–November 2027
Built to Outlast
Family enterprise. Generations ahead.
Three days of candid conversations and practical working sessions for Stride members, their families, and the managers involved in their transition. A chance to think together about the future, outside the day-to-day business.
Preview · Dates and program subject to confirmationThe question behind the gathering
What helps a family enterprise endure?
Patient ownership. Strong values. Care for people. And the courage to adapt. Explore the choices that help a business thrive beyond any one person, whether your next handoff is near or still years away.
The setting changes to New York City. The focus stays on families learning from families: honest questions, shared experience, and room to think about what comes next.
The proposed three-day program
All times are New York time. This is a draft itinerary, not a confirmed schedule. Speaker participation, partnerships, venue access, meals, and transportation remain subject to confirmation.
Wednesday evening · Reconnect
- 5:00 pm
- Welcome & opening conversationMeet fellow Stride families at the planned home base, Washington Square Hotel. The welcome time is provisional; check-in and room arrangements are not confirmed.
- 6:30 pm
- Dinner at Bamonte’s · BrooklynA shared table at the family-run restaurant in Williamsburg. Reservation, pricing, and travel arrangements remain to be confirmed.
Thursday · What endures & what evolves
- 8:00 am
- Breakfast & peer conversationA planned meal at a family-owned business; venue to be selected.
- 9:00 am
- Patient capital & ownership choicesProposed Morgan Stanley programming on long-term financial resilience, transition readiness, and life after liquidity, with sessions at its NYC headquarters subject to confirmation.
- 10:15 am
- Nigel Cope: the DNA of longevityA proposed conversation with the author of The Great Survivors about values, people, patient ownership, and reinvention.
- 11:15 am · Placeholder
- Passing it forward · Possible Balson family conversationAn idea for a cross-generational conversation with Richard & Sara Balson of R.J. Balson & Son. The family has not been approached or invited; neither participation nor this time slot has been agreed.
- 12:30 pm
- Lunch inside a family businessContinue the conversation over a shared table; restaurant to be selected.
- 1:30 pm
- Beyond the Family: Rethinking Who Owns the Business NextA planned 60-minute interactive employee-ownership panel facilitated by Sam Brownell, with proposed panelists Gina Schaefer, Cara Martin, and Jay Ward.
- 3:00 pm
- Fred Hochberg: the next chapterA planned fireside conversation about leaving a family enterprise and creating a meaningful second career.
- Evening · TBD
- Main evening at Yankee StadiumThe goal is a reception with the Steinbrenner family speaking about stewardship and generational transition. Venue, family participation, speaking format, date, time, and transportation are tentative and unconfirmed.
Friday · Carry it forward
- 8:00 am
- Breakfast & reflectionCompare what resonated over a planned meal at a family-owned business.
- 9:00 am
- Ownership, leadership & the familyPlanned work with Kyler and Ken Gilbert at BCR, with potential participation from Fordham’s family business program.
- 10:30 am
- Your longevity blueprintName what to preserve, what to reinvent, and who carries it forward. Compare next-generation succession, a transition to managers, and an outside sale against your family’s priorities.
- Noon
- Lunch & family commitmentsShare your next steps; restaurant and arrangements remain to be confirmed.
- 1:00 pm
- Closing conversationName the conversations and commitments to carry home.
- 2:00 pm
- Retreat concludes & departuresWait for confirmed dates and venues before booking travel.
The people & perspectives behind the program
These are planned or prospective contributors, not confirmed speakers or partners.
- Nigel Cope · The Great Survivors
- His book explores twelve of Britain’s oldest family businesses, including Barbour, Timpson, and Stephen Walters. The proposed session asks what long-term thinking, cautious finance, care for employees, and community roots can teach your family about endurance.
- Richard & Sara Balson · R.J. Balson & Son · Idea only
- The family traces its business to a Bridport market stall in 1515. Its multigenerational story could offer a perspective on passing responsibility forward without losing the enterprise’s identity. The family has not been approached or invited, and no participation has been agreed.
- Fred Hochberg · Purpose after the family business
- From leading his family’s Lillian Vernon business to public service and the Export–Import Bank, Hochberg’s planned conversation explores identity, redefining success, and a meaningful second career.
- Morgan Stanley · Proposed sponsor & programming partner
- Practical sessions on ownership transitions, exit readiness, and life after liquidity, with proposed programming at its New York headquarters. Sponsorship, participation, and headquarters access are not confirmed.
- Kyler & Ken Gilbert · BCR
- Planned collaboration on the family, leadership, and management questions behind a transition. Participation and session details remain to be confirmed.
- Fordham University · Potential academic collaboration
- Possible involvement from its emerging family business program through the BCR connection. This is exploratory, not a confirmed university partnership.
A planned 60-minute interactive panel
Beyond the Family: Rethinking Who Owns the Business Next
Your employees may be the next owners. Explore ways to preserve independence and culture while delivering fair value to the family: Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Worker Cooperatives, and Perpetual Purpose Trusts (PPTs).
- Sam Brownell · Facilitator
- Founder and CEO of Stratus Business Advisors, specializing in valuation, succession planning, and employee-ownership transitions.
- Gina Schaefer · Proposed panelist
- Co-Founder of The Cool Hardware Company, bringing experience growing an Ace Hardware business and building a strong workplace culture.
- Cara Martin · Proposed panelist
- CEO and employee-owner of OTS R&D, with firsthand experience establishing and leading a worker cooperative.
- Jay Ward · Proposed panelist
- Former fourth-generation owner and CEO of Ward Lumber, which transitioned to a worker-owned cooperative in 2021.
What the session explores
- How ESOPs, Worker Cooperatives, and PPTs differ, and which businesses fit each approach.
- Why sell to employees rather than a strategic or financial buyer?
- How valuation and purchase financing work in an employee buyout.
- Who needs a seat at the table, including legal, financial, and transition advisors.
- How to navigate culture, negotiations, leadership, and operations before and after the handoff.
The session is planned; facilitator and panelist participation and final timing remain subject to confirmation.
Stay, eat & gather inside family businesses
The setting is part of the learning: how other families steward something worth passing on. These are destination images, not photos of a completed NYC retreat.
Washington Square Hotel · Greenwich Village
The planned hotel opened as Hotel Earle in 1902 and has been owned by the Paul family since 1973.
Room block, availability, rates, check-in, and booking instructions remain to be confirmed. Please wait before reserving.
Bamonte’s · Williamsburg, Brooklyn
A planned dinner at 32 Withers Street, at an Italian restaurant founded in 1900 and still run by the Bamonte family.
Group reservation, availability, menu, pricing, and travel from Manhattan remain to be confirmed. Breakfast and lunch venues are still being selected.
Yankee Stadium · The main-evening goal
A proposed reception with the Steinbrenner family speaking to Stride members about stewardship, reinvention, and generational transition.
This is not a confirmed booking or speaker commitment. Venue, family participation, speaking format, date, time, and transportation remain unconfirmed. The final itinerary will clarify how this evening and the Bamonte’s dinner fit together.
Who it’s for & what to know
- Bring the people involved in the decision
- Stride members, spouses or partners, rising-generation family members, and key non-family managers involved in a transition are welcome. Attendance is not yet confirmed.
- Costs & sponsorship
- Member pricing, hotel rates, and sponsorship coverage are not yet set. Sponsorship is being pursued, including a proposed Morgan Stanley relationship; no complimentary stay or fully hosted program is promised.
- Travel & dress
- Rail and flights are options. Wait for confirmed dates, venues, and hotel details before making non-refundable reservations. The proposed dress is business casual by day, with jackets for dinner.
- Privacy & purpose
- Practical learning and confidential peer conversations, not sales pitches or recruitment. Sponsor involvement is intended to support member value, not access to your family’s private response.
Questions to bring to the table
The longevity theme is a starting point for conversations like these, rather than a finalized session list:
- Ownership that thinks in generations
- How do you balance today’s needs with investment in the next generation? What does patient capital mean for your family’s decisions?
- Values worth keeping. Habits worth changing.
- Which parts of your family’s story should guide the future, and which ways of working need to evolve?
- People, leadership & the next handoff
- How do owners, next-generation leaders, and non-family managers build clarity about their roles? Where might employee ownership fit?
- Purpose beyond the business
- What does a meaningful next chapter look like when your role changes? How can the family stay connected through that transition?
A feel for the gathering
Working sessions are only part of the story. These moments from the 2026 Berkshires retreat show the conversations, shared time, and people behind the community.
Photos: the 2026 retreat at The Prospect Berkshires in Egremont, Massachusetts. Activities and settings shown are memories of that gathering, not confirmed plans for New York.
Three possible dates. One shared table.
Each option runs Wednesday evening through Friday at 2 pm, New York time:
- October 27–29, 2027 · Wednesday–Friday
- November 3–5, 2027 · Wednesday–Friday
- November 10–12, 2027 · Wednesday–Friday
The final dates follow member feedback. Venues and speakers remain subject to confirmation; please wait for final details before booking travel.
Updated from the Stride founders invitation on October 14, 2026. Final dates, locations, speakers, partnerships, costs, and activities are still to be confirmed. The full invitation requires invitation access. Members can use their personal invitation link to share date preferences and respond; this companion does not collect private RSVPs.
An open door
Working with families in South Carolina
Jason is open to working with South Carolina families. If today raised a question about your own family, the conversation can start here.
The work is the people side of succession: deciding who decides, agreeing on how to fight, writing the family’s rules down, bringing the next generation in on paper rather than on a promise, and getting a family aligned before a buyer, or a stroke, forces the question. Governance, family charters, next-generation leadership, succession planning, and the year after a sale.
It starts with a conversation, not a proposal. One family, one hour, no slides.