Month: May 2022

Succession and continuity planning are business activities that  can take a backseat to  other things like growing revenues, trimming costs, or running day-to-day business operations.  

That idea was the emphasis behind the ARCC Succession Summit, presented by the Women’s Business Council on May 11 at the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls.

During the afternoon session, a panel of experts discussed why succession is a critical business activity. The intent was to create a culture of regular succession planning and development to ensure upward economic trajectory continues in the region.

The panel explored these three scenarios:

• After a starup business survives,what is needed  to ensure continuity, employee/client retention, and resilience?

• How do family owned businesses successfully move from generation to generation and beyond?

by Rose Miller

In my roles as an HR professional, a critical requirement is to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of employment laws, HR best practices and workforce stressors. 

It’s a lot. But us HR folks are a resilient bunch. The successful ones are always ready for change. Reinvention should be embraced to prepare for change.

I was speaking with a peer group of women leaders the other day. I love this group of “power-women”, who come from all walks of life and various careers. They are smart, fun, and empowered. We support each other in many ways, both personally and professionally. We understand how these things are deeply tied together.

The group’s facilitator often presents topics that are thought provoking and it challenges us learn about ourselves so we can lead with more self-awareness. If you have ever worked with someone who was not at all self-aware, you would fully understand the importance of this exercise.

This month, we were asked the question, “if you could reinvent yourself or change something at this point, how or what would it be?”

It’s a rare leader, who hasn’t reinvented himself or herself several times in their career. Look at what the last two years have done. Good or bad, we all needed to reinvent various pieces of our lives. Businesses needed to shift and pivot. We all had to flex and change to survive. Reinvention became survival.

Skidmore College has created a $10 million initiative in support of its longstanding commitment to a liberal arts experience rooted in creativity that prepares students for thriving professional and personal success. 

Officials said a $5 million one-to-one matching pledge along with additional matching gifts created the Sands Family Foundation Initiative for Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at Skidmore College.

A century ago, Lucy Skidmore Scribner founded Skidmore College with the vision that it would help students connect the power of their minds and their hands in a new model of liberal education, college officials said. That ambition takes a dramatic step forward with the new initiative, said college President Marc C. Conner.

“This extraordinary gift celebrates what Skidmore has always done—nurture creativity and prepare students for life after graduation—and moves us forward in our ability to offer the very model for a 21st liberal arts education,” Conner said. 

“The essence of innovation and entrepreneurship is an eagerness to be bold, take risks, look at tough problems with fresh eyes, and be unafraid to fail—the hallmarks of a great liberal arts education. This gift from the Sands Family Foundation emphasizes the incredible impact that our commitment to developing exceptional creative and critical skills can have on students,” said Conner.

 Rob Sands, a Skidmore business major graduate who is executive chairman of the board of directors of Constellation Brands, explained his personal commitment to this gift.