By Margaret Steen

The Duchossois Group Inc. has come a long way since its founding in 1916 by A.J. Thrall and his brother-in-law as Thrall Car Manufacturing Company, a small freight car component repair shop.

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By Barbara Spector

No matter how well your relatives bond at family meetings, these gatherings have limitations. If your family is large and dispersed, it's impractical to meet more than once a year and, inevitably, some family members won't make it to the meeting.

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When it comes to family businesses, evidence suggests that which does not kill them makes them stronger—stronger than other enterprises. Family businesses tend to enter challenging economic times better prepared than others, with a more conservative orientation and far less debt. In a difficult economy, family businesses respond with a...

Many of my colleagues express frustration that their clients are resisting or delaying implementation of expertly (and expensively!) crafted strategies. Our best-laid plans are only as good as our clients' willingness to follow them, and when clients drag their feet in acting on good advice, they can seem downright irrational....

It's a topic that tends to generate strong, often surprisingly emotional reactions: how to manage the governance concerns of a family enterprise. If nothing else, those in the room typically snap to attention and become engaged when the topic is brought up.

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