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CORVALLIS - What are the keys to longevity in a family-owned business today and how can family businesses survive for generations? The Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State University, with corporate partner U.S. Bank, will address these issues at workshops in Oregon and Washington this fall.

"Succession is the most important transition any family business will face," said John Rickman, president of U.S. Bank. "This program is designed to help family-owned businesses plan for the future and increase their chances of keeping it in the family."

Cost is $75 per person or $50 for business customers of U.S. Bank. For information and registration details, contact OSU's Austin Family Business Program, 541-737-3326 or 1-800-859-7609.

Geared for business owners, successor candidates, spouses and key managers, these workshops consider how to transfer family businesses from one generation to the next. Each workshop is hosted by a family business and includes a three-hour morning session with hands-on learning guides, panelists from family businesses who have completed successions, and structured roundtable discussions with other family business owners. After each workshop, the host family leads a tour of their business.

Pat Frishkoff, director of OSU's Austin Family Business Program, stressed the importance of planning for succession in family business operations.

"Linking family and business creates unique and sensitive challenges," she said. "Communication often breaks down and issues like succession planning are not discussed."

Workshops are slotted for the following locations: Wednesday, Sept. 30, in The Dalles; Thursday, Oct. 1, in Prineville; Tuesday, Oct. 13, in Vancouver, Wash; Wednesday, Oct. 14, in Albany; Thursday, Oct. 22, in Klamath Falls, and Wednesday, Dec. 9, in Gresham.

For information and registration details, contact OSU's Austin Family Business Program, 541-737-3326 or 1-800-859-7609.