Goering Center Supporting Greater Cincinnati Businesses With Knowledge, Connection and Community

CINCINNATI, October 25, 2024 (Newswire.com) - From a startup in 1989, the Goering Center for Family and Private Business members now account for $13.5 billion in economic impact to the Greater Cincinnati region.

Driven by a strong sense that family and private businesses lacked many of the resources enjoyed by larger public companies, John Goering, an accounting professor at the University of Cincinnati, and his wife, Gloria, put up the early capital to endow the Goering Center. John and Professor Sid Barton launched the Goering Center for Family and Private Business 35 years ago with the support of what is now the Carl H. Lindner College of Business. Today, the nonprofit serves more than 400 member companies, representing 64,000 jobs throughout 19 counties. Though the Goering Center welcomes businesses of all sizes and industries into its Core, Associate, and Corporate Partner memberships, the “sweet spot” for Core membership is enterprises with 10 to 100 employees and revenues of $1 million to $50 million.

“We support, nurture, and educate both family and private businesses. We focus on helping owners and leaders work on their business not just in their business. We are heavily driven by volunteer engagement, with 150 to 200 volunteers every year,” says Carol Butler, president. “I often say—those who know us love us, but not enough people know who we are—so we remain on a mission of expanding our reach into the community. We are built for more and strive to deliver on the promise to positively impact businesses in our region.”

Butler became the president of the Goering Center in 2017—at that time, she had already been a volunteer for five years. One could say that her career has come full circle: growing up in her family’s orchard business, Butler’s Orchard, experiencing over 30 years in the corporate world, and then landing right into helping family and private businesses.

Institutes and Services

Among the Goering Center’s services are its specialized institutes. The Next Generation Institute™ is a 12-session program that equips families to transition business ownership from one generation to the next. The families from LaRosa’s Pizzeria and Graeter’s Ice Cream are graduates of this program and laud its effectiveness on their generational transitions.

The Business Boards Institute is a seven-step model that walks businesses through establishing advisory boards to achieve goals and drive change.

The Leadership Development Institute is guided by expert facilitators who help business leaders perform at their highest levels while exchanging ideas with others in the program.

“Every program we design is based on our core principles of knowledge, connection, and community, and our institutes are excellent examples of those principles in action,” says Carol Butler, president of the Goering Center.

Source: The Goering Center