Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Thursday November 7^th

8:30_am Announcements

Went around the table for introductions.

9:00_am State Reports

Members went around the room and commented on new outcomes for State Reports. Please make sure to submit State Reports to Virginia asap.

10:00_am Visit from Dean Jorge Atiles: WVU Division of Land Grant Engagement

Dean Atiles spoke on small family firms, outreach, and engagement in West Virginia. Charged the group to look at geography and its impact on resiliency.

11:00_am Business Meeting

 Virginia Solis Zuiker and Sandra Sydnor on Elections

Secretary has been Jenny Beth for 2023-2024 and Kelsie Doty will be starting a two-year term 2024-2026. Unofficially to be known as “Keeper of Records”

Co-Chair Sandra Sydnor is retiring at the end of this calendar year. The group decided that Linda Niehm will fill in for Sandra Sydnor to finish out 2025-2026 as co-chair. Melody LeHew will be a co-chair 2025-2027. Erin Irick will be a co-chair 2026-2028.

Note that service years start at our annual meeting.

Motion to accept elections was passed by the group in attendance.

Strategic Planning

Annual Meeting Plan

•       2025: Kansas State University
•       2026: Wyoming State University
•       2027: Iowa State University, Health and Human Sciences will have a new building

Please note: Proposal writing will need to be done by October 15^th of 2025. See attached document for list of dates.

Handbook updates from Cynthia Jasper. Please see email with handbook updates.

Motion to accept handbook changes was passed by the group in attendance.

Melody will work on updating the language for Duties/Term of Office before our next quarterly meeting.

Member Recruitment

Virginia Solis Zuiker and Sandra Sydnor requested the group think about research gaps and ask that we brainstorm new members. Discussion was held around states in the North Central region that are not represented in the group.  Illinois, Pennsylvania, North Dakota and Michigan were some of the states mentioned as not having representation in the group.

Declarations

1:00_pm New Collaboration Group Work: Brainstorming and New Directions

            Groups split off to work.

2:30 – 6:00_pm Farm Tour:

Grazing Herd Mercantile

See Photocircle for images. 

Friday November 8^th

8:35_am  Welcome

 Virginia Solis Zuiker

8:40_pm Review of Project Objectives

Review of Project Objectives

Current Objectives are:

Objective 1: Identify and measure the sources of major change and disruption and the structural barriers that impact the family/household, the business or the community.

Objective 2: Identify and measure transformative responses to the positive and negative impacts of change and disruption on the family/household, the business, or the community.

Objective 3: Determine and inform policy or practice related to the wellbeing of the family, the business, or the community.

Proposed New Objectives:

Objective 1: Identify the opportunities and threats in a changing environment and measure the impact on families/households, micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and/or communities.

Objective 2: Identify and measure transformative responses to the positive and negative impacts of change on families/households, MSMEs and/or communities.

Objective 3: Determine and inform policy or practice related to the wellbeing of families/households, MSMEs and/or communities. 

NC1030 members will look at the new NIFA priorities to shape the next round of Project Themes. Review possible alignment with Sustainable Development Goal’s. 

The writing group for the new themes will be Erin Irick (lead), Yoon Lee (lead), Debanjan Das, Jenny Beth Jorgensen, Stephen Mukembo, Maria Marshall (advisor).  

The major themes will be split between fiber and family. 

10:00_am   New Collaboration Group Work

11:00_am Trip to take pictures with Don Knotts statue and lunch.

3:00_pm Revisit Existing Data

No updates from Maria.

Melody and Fiber Team are looking at gathering data for Lifestyle Entrepreneurship, but team will first conduct systematic literature review before proceeding.

2:15_pm Continuing Projects Group Work

USASBE, NCRCRD, Manuscript Writing

4:30_pm Debrief

Report Main Outcomes

5:00 Meeting Adjourned

The full NC1030 research team met virtually every other month to share and discuss on-going research activities. Smaller groups met throughout the year to discuss on-going research and to progress with the work begun on manuscripts. The NC1030 research team produced the following works during 2023-2024: two articles were published, six manuscripts were in various stages: submitted, in review, or in revision, five grants were funded, one grant was submitted but not funded, eight conference presentations, and five extension presentations. Three manuscripts are in preparation and two engagement/outreach activities were presented. The research works reported are collaborative across states.

Specific accomplishments are represented by the three project objectives which are derivatives of the five themes.

NC 1030: Five Themes

1) Rural Small Business Recovery and Resilience to Natural Hazards; 2) Sustainable and Resilient SMEs in a Regenerative Fiber and Food System; 3) Entrepreneurial and Innovative Response to Disruption and System Shocks by Family-Owned SMEs; 4) Contributions of Socioemotional Wealth, Rurality, Collaboration and Race on Resilience and Success of Family-Owned SMEs and 5) Impact of Transgenerational Control and Transfer within Family Businesses on Resilience and Recover.

Three Objectives:

• Objective 1: Identify and measure the sources of major change and disruption and the structural barriers that impact the family/household, the business, or the community.

NC1030 members Marshall, Wiatt, Lee, Jasper, Fitzgerald collaborated with NC1100 to develop a small business survey for the North Central Region in collaboration with NC20172. The survey was conducted by NCRCRD and data were made available in open access. The survey focuses on small businesses, benefits, health, and wellbeing.

Visser collaborates with colleagues from Florida to measure economic resilience in rural communities and identify sufficient elements to identify “major shocks” or disruption” in long term economic trends.

Marshall, Fitzgerald, Lee, Wiatt, Cheang, and Mukembo examine differences in Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) between copreneurs, business-owning couples, and non-copreneurial family businesses differences in their social-emotional well-being using data from the 2019 Small Business Survey with fewer than 100 employees. Findings suggest copreneurial businesses were less concerned with transgenerational control than other types of family businesses which in turn implies that they may have different long-term objectives than non-copreneurial family businesses.

NC1030 members Martinez-Palomares, J., M. Cheang, and C. Valdivia collaborated and presented their preliminary findings at the Cambio de Colores Annual Conference 2024 in Kansas City. Their study is titled, “Natural hazards and Covid-19 pandemic: The double ABC-X stress model adaptation for Hispanic minorities”. Findings suggest that Latina business owners have less well-being than their male counterparts. Bonding social capital mitigates the negative impact of well-being on resilience by reducing in absolute value, the negative impact of having a negative well-being on resilience.  The next steps are to test other instruments on the entire sample; adapt the Double ABC-X model using latent variables.

NC 1030 members Yoon Lee, Michael Cheang, Cynthia Jasper and Renee Wiatt examined the factors associated with business performance among small businesses in the United States, while comparing differences in work-family interface issues between women (n = 266) and men (n = 232) business owners (N=498). Their manuscript is titled, “Work-Family Boundary Interaction and Business Performance: How Do Women and Men Business Owners Differ?” Using data from the 2019 Small Business Values Survey (SBVS), regression results indicated that all else being equal, women business owners reported significantly lower business income than their men counterparts. Regression results also revealed that work-family boundary disruption was positively associated with perceived business profitability and successful family-business functioning was positively associated with both perceived profitability and business income. On the other hand, operating businesses from home was negatively associated with both perceived profitability and business income. Their work has been submitted to a journal for review.

Johnson Jorgensen (Nebraska) collaborated with five other NC-1030 members (Sydnor, Jasper, Zuiker, and Visser’s) to prepare a research article on the wealth and well-being of small business owners. This work extends the Sustainable Family Business Theory by exploring the subjective well-being of small business owners. The research article will be submitted in early 2025. Research conducted with NC-1030 members revealed that small business owners generally experience higher levels of subjective well-being compared to larger companies, while those earning over $100k per year report lower levels of well-being. Similarly, the study on coping techniques and the wealth of hospitality businesses found that: 1) women owners using coping techniques perceive themselves as more successful, 2) these owners have a more positive perception of wealth, 3) race does not influence perceptions of wealth and well-being, and 4) family-owned businesses and women report higher well-being than men and non-family-owned businesses. These findings guide small business owners and retail managers on the positive impacts of health and wealth on overall well-being.

• Objective 2: Identify and measure transformative responses to the positive and negative impacts of change and disruption on the family/household, the business, or the community.

NC1030 members Diddi, LeHew, along with research scholars Hiller, Morris and Rebecca Burgess (Executive Director and Founder of Fibershed) were awarded USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant titled “Building Circular Economy Competencies In Fiber, Textiles And Clothing Curriculum To Enhance Workforce Preparedness” $733,382 in 2024. The overarching goal of this multi-institutional and transdisciplinary project is to enhance fiber, textiles and clothing (FTC) curriculum with circular (CE) competencies to prepare the next generation of professionals to support the industry transformation toward circularity. The first objective is to increase conceptual knowledge related to FTC CE principles in baccalaureate education and address the skills gap related to regenerative agriculture, emerging technologies, and innovations advancing circularity. The second objective is to support FTC educators’ ability to deliver professional competencies related to CE.

Marshall, Wiatt, and Lee collaborated on a manuscript focusing on small business exit strategies and the effects of socioemotional wealth on the choice of four common exit strategies. The four common exit strategies included in this study were: 1) give the business to family, 2) sell the business to family, 3) sell the business to outsiders, or 4) liquidate the business. Over 50% of small businesses in the U.S. have business owners over the age of 55 and the majority do not have a planned exit strategy. Trillions of dollars in wealth will be transferred in the next decade. Business owner exit is associated with financial and non-financial factors. For rural business owners, in particular, non-financial factors or socioemotional wealth may play a key role in the exit strategy they choose. Business owners have many different paths to exit their businesses such as giving, selling, or liquidating their businesses. A multinomial logit model was used to determine the association of socioemotional wealth (SEW) with the choice of four common exit strategies employed by rural small business owners. The data were from a national survey of U.S. small business owners. Business owners with high SEW were more likely to choose stewardship strategies rather than liquidate. Rural business owners compared to their urban counterparts were less likely to choose to sell their businesses to non-family members which may have implications for rural main street over the next decade.

Fitzgerald, Lee, Marshall, Wiatt, Cheang, & Mukembo continue to study the use of adjustment strategies within businesses and families when unusually high demands are made on either system utilizing data from the 2019 Small Business Values Survey (SBVS). Their study focuses on how couple and non-couple owners differ in use of business managerial strategies when competing demands on time and resources are present in the business or family systems. While descriptive statistics show copreneurs use fewer adjustment strategies, regression analysis revealed couple-owned businesses actually use more strategies than others. Business characteristics (size, location, industry) and owner demographics (age, gender, ethnicity) significantly influence strategy usage. A manuscript is being prepared with plans to submit the manuscript in the spring of 2025.

Marshall, Wiatt, Lee, Fitzgerald, Cheang, and Mukembo study titled, “Mixing Business and Pleasure: Socioemotional wealth and income among copreneurs and Business-owning couples” was presented at the 2024 Work and Family Researchers Network (WFRN) Conference in Montreal Canada utilizing data from 500 U.S. small businesses to examine how copreneurial and couple-owned business structures affect both financial (income) and non-financial (socioemotional wealth) outcomes. Preliminary results show that while being a couple-owned business or copreneurial business leads to higher levels of socioemotional wealth, it is also associated with lower income. Plans are to submit the manuscript to a journal in spring 2025.

LeHew, Doty, Erin Irick, Das, Diddi, Manchiraju, and Eike presented a “round-table” symposium at the International Federation of Home Economics (IFHE) World Congress in Galway, Ireland in June 2024. By sharing global perspectives represented by conference attendees we gained a richer understanding regarding the power of transformative education for reimagining the fashion industry for circularity. This can inform future research endeavors for development of a circular fiber economy in the U.S.

NC 1030 members Valdivia, Cheang, Zuiker, Katare, and Martinez-Palomares examined the strategies families and small businesses across the United States used to cope with a drastic reduction or loss of income because of the COVID-19 pandemic?  Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted using a nationally representative sample to examine the association between coping strategies used to deal with income reduction or loss, and health and subjective wellbeing. Findings suggest that while families and small businesses are resourceful in normal times, during periods of non-normative shocks of such magnitude and extended period of time as the COVID-19 pandemic, without systems and structural supports from the government, the conventional ways of coping (e.g., use of savings, reaching out to family and friends, and getting assistance from food pantries) may not be sufficient to help families and small businesses to recover from such unexpected life events.  The manuscript was submitted to a journal in 2024.

Research combining both Objectives 1 and 2 are detailed below:

Collaborators from the NC1030 research group, Irick, LeHew, Doty, Das, Johnson-Jorgensen, Manchiraju, and Diddi submitted a grant to the NCRCRD small grants program. The project’s titled, “Shepherding Change: Cultivating Sustainable Wool Industry in the North Central Region”. The purpose of this grant was to identify challenges and opportunities confronting the development of a sustainable wool industry in the North Central region and to identify avenues for economic development throughout the supply chain, and long-term success of small wool fiber-based businesses, while enhancing rural community vitality. The anticipated output of this grant was a systematic literature review, a regional wool-fiber supply chain database, dissemination of findings via manuscript and presentation, and a research project proposal to submit to USDA NIFA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) grant program. The NCRCRD small grant was not funded, but the same group of researchers anticipate reworking the grant proposal and reapplying should that funding source be offered again in the coming year.

LeHew, Diddi, Niehm, Inwood, Jasper, Sydnor, Jorgensen, Das, and Visser collaborated on developing a proposal for external funding to cover team development and meetings, preliminary data collection, and other activities facilitating multi-state collaboration leading to outputs (i.e., research publications, Extension publications). Plans are underway to submit the proposal in 2025 and, if funded, will support collaborative work for a three-year period. The group proposal anticipates the work will advance sustainable business approaches by exploring the viability of a regenerative and circular agricultural supply chain for fiber products.

•  Objective 3: Determine and inform policy or practice related to the wellbeing of the family, the business, or the community.

Wiatt, Marshall, and Lee published an article, “Love of Work or Love and Work: Does a Business Owner’s Compulsion to Work Pay Off?” to the Journal of Family and Economic Issues utilizing data from the 2019 Small Business Values Survey (SBVS). This study investigated factors associated with small business owners behaving as compulsive workers.

Fitzgerald and others presented farm stress and best practices when working with farm families at the Minnesota Farm Advocate and Mediator Meeting/Training conducted by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture in October 2023.

Niehm and Machiraju and graduate students have a new research project focusing on social-emotional well-being and small business success. Specifically, examining the performance and sustainability of small rural businesses that invest in employee well-being by offering a variety of benefits, job flexibility, and other factors centered on work-life balance utilizing the NCR-Stat Small Business survey. Plans are to present at USASBE and then write a manuscript.

Research combining both Objectives 2 and 3 are detailed below:

Wiatt, Marshall, Haynes, and Lee published an article, “In the Depths of Despair: Lost Income and Recovery for Small Businesses During COVID-19” to the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction utilizing data from the 2019 Small Business Values Survey (SBVS). This study examined how small business owners sought to keep their businesses operating during the harshest times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research encompassing all three Objectives are detailed below:

Manchiraju, Niehm, Diddi, LeHew, and Das collaborated on a research project using data from the Small Business Values Survey (2019). It was presented at the US Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2023 under the Emerging Research track and they are developing it into a full manuscript for publication.

Lee, Marshall, and Wiatt are collaborating on a research topic that compares differences in exit intention strategies between BIPOC and White-American business owners utilizing data from the 2019 Small Business Survey. It is titled, “Giving, Selling, or Liquidating: Exit Strategies of BIPOC Small Business Owners.” Our preliminary regression results show that BIPOC business owners were more likely to choose stewardship exit strategies rather than liquidate. This finding is consistent with previous findings. BIPOC business owners were also more likely to give or sell their businesses to familiar successors than to liquidate their businesses.  Plans are to submit the manuscript to a journal in 2025.

Publications

(Theme 4) Wiatt, R., Marshall, M.I., and Lee, Y.G. (2024 March). “Love of Work or Love and Work: Does Business Owner Compulsion to Work Pay Off?”. Journal of Family and Economic Issues. DOI: https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1007/s10834-024-09949-9.

(Theme 4) Lee, Y.G., Kelley, H.H., Wiatt, R., and Marshall, M.I. (2023, March 25). “Work-Family Balance and Perceived Business Outcomes Among Copreneurial and Noncopreneurial Small Business Owners”. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 45, 200-211. DOI: https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1007/s10834-023-09897-w 

Manuscripts Submitted/ In Review/Under Revision

Lee, Y., Cheang, M., Jasper, C., Wiatt, R., (manuscript under review) Work-Family Boundary Interaction and Business performance: How Do Women and Men Business Owners Differ? Community, Work and Family.

(Theme 3) Feng, Y., Stoll, A., Marshall, M., and Wiatt, R. “Exploring Consumer Willingness to Pay for Food Safety in Produce: A Focus on Small vs. Large Farms”. Food Control.

(Theme 5) Marshall, M.I., Y.G. Lee, and R.D. Wiatt. The ‘silver tsunami’: community embeddedness and small business owner exit strategies. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.

(Theme 1) Edobor, E.W, M.I. Marshall, B. Katare, and C. Valdivia. Insuring for Cyclone Events: What Matters Most to Small Business Owners? Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

Lee, Y., Cheang, M., Jasper, C., Wiatt, R. Work-Family Boundary Interaction and Business Performance: How Do Women and Men Business Owners Differ?” Community, Work & Family.

Martinez-Palomares, J., Valdivia, C., Cheang, M., Zuiker, V. & Katare, B. (2024),  Families’ and Small Businesses’ Efforts to Cope with Income Reduction or Loss in Times of a Public Health Crisis.  Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

Peer Reviewed Extension Publications

Grants:

Diddi, S., LeHew, M. L. A., Hiller, K. Y., Morris, K., & Burgess, R. (2024) Building circular economy competencies in fiber, textiles, and clothing curriculum to enhance workforce preparedness. Funded by USDA NIFA Higher Education Challenge (CG2) Grant program.

(Themes 1 and 2) USDA-NIFA-SAS: Building Resilience to Shocks and Disruptions: Creating Sustainable and Equitable Local and Regional Food Systems in the US Midwest Region and Beyond, 2023-2028, $10 million, Michigan State University.

1. Co-PI, subaward to Marshall (AGEC) is $527,506 (Wiatt, collaborator)

(Theme 5) AgSEED Grant. (2022-2024). “A Farm Succession Toolkit: Defining Successful Strategies for Exit and Entry”. $50,000. Marshall, M., Wiatt, R. (Co-PI), Curley, L., Langemeier, M., Pullen, K., and Weaver, K.

(Theme 3) Small Business Administration & Northeast Indiana Innovation Center: Northeast Indiana Adaptive Community Navigator, 2021-2023, $98,835. Marshall, M.I., Wilcox, M., Wiatt, R.W.

(Theme 1) USDA-NIFA-AFRI: Taking the Next Step as a Small and Medium Sized Farm: Understanding the Integration of Production, Food Safety, and Profitability, 2021-2025, $500,000, PI and Project Director: M.I. Marshall, Co-PIs: B. Feng (FS), P. Langenhoven (HLA), N. Shoaf (Urban Ag), and R. Wiatt (AGEC).

Submitted/Not funded

Doty, K., LeHew, M. L. A., Irick, E., Jorgensen, J., Das, D., Manchiraju, S., & Diddi, S. (2024). Shepherding Change: Cultivating Sustainable Wool Industry In the North Central Region. Submitted to North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) Small Research Grant program.

Conference Presentations

LeHew, M.L.A, Doty, K., Irick, E., Das, D., Diddi, S., & Manchiraju, S.  (2024). Charting the Future of Fashion: Identifying Transformative Education Approaches. Presented at the International Federation of Home Economics World Congress, Galway, Ireland, June 2024.

(Theme 4) June 2024: Copreneurs and Their Use of Adjustment Strategies: A Comparison to Other Forms of Family Businesses. Fitzgerald, M., Lee, Y., Marshall, M.I., Wiatt, R., Cheang, M., Mukembo, S. Work and Family Research Network Conference (Symposium on Copreneurial Ventures: Making Business and Family Work), Montreal, Canada.

(Theme 4) June 2024: Mixing Business and Pleasure: Socioemotional Wealth and Income Levels Among Copreneurs and Business-Owning Couples. Marshall, M.I., Wiatt, R., Lee, Y., Fitzgerald, M., Cheang, M., Mukembo, S. Work and Family Research Network Conference (Symposium on Copreneurial Ventures: Making Business and Family Work), Montreal, Canada.

(Theme 3) (abstract submission) Kontor-Manu, E., Marshall, M.I., Wiatt, R.D., and Feng, Y. (2024). Implications of consumer expectations and produce safety regulations to the small size farmer in Indiana. International Association of Food Protection Conference.

(Theme 4) Marshall, M.I., Fitzgerald, M., Lee, Y., Wiatt, R., Cheang, M., and Mukembo, S. (January 2024). Socioemotional Wealth among Business Owning Couples. Presentation at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Birmingham, Alabama.

(Theme 4) January 2024: Marshall, M.I., Fitzgerald, M., Lee, Y., Wiatt, R., Cheang, M., and Mukembo, S. Socioemotional Wealth among Business Owning Couples. Presentation at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Birmingham, Alabama.

Sydnor, S., Jorgensen, J., Zuiler, V., Jasper, C. & Visser, A. (2024, July 24-26). The role gender and family play in businesses’ perceptions of wealth & well-being under sudden shocks. Presented at the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Researchers from the University of Wyoming and Kansas State University, with contributions from researchers from West Virginia University, Florida State University, and Colorado State University submitted and presented a “round-table” symposium at the International Federation of Home Economics (IFHE) World Congress in Galway, Ireland in June 2024. The purpose of this symposium was for scholars to brainstorm and share innovative educational approaches to assisting the shift of the fashion industry toward a circular, regenerative system.

Manuscripts- Work in Progress

New research led by Dr. Niehm, Dr. Machiraju, and graduate student researchers focuses on social-emotional well-being and small business success. The research explores variables from the NCR-Stat Small Business Survey (Wiatt et al., 2024). It focuses on the performance and sustainability of small rural businesses that invest in employee well-being by offering a variety of benefits, job flexibility, and other factors centered on work-life balance. This new data set offers a rich opportunity to examine a large sample of small businesses (N=1,287) from the North Central Region concerning small businesses, employer benefits, and rural health. Based on this research, an emerging research submission is being developed for the 2025 US Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference. A manuscript for submission to an academic journal is also planned for 2025.

Dr. Niehm, the Iowa representative, has engaged in collaboration with a multidisciplinary group of scholars (Manchiraju, Niehm, Diddi, LeHew, and Das) from the NC 1030 project group focused on Theme 4: Contributions of Socioemotional Wealth, Rurality, Collaboration and Race on Resilience and Success of Family-Owned SMEs. The team used data from the Small Business Values Survey (2019) to submit an abstract to the US Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) in 2023 under the Emerging Research track. This research addresses Theme 4, objectives 1, 2, and 3, and the emerging paper is now being developed into a full manuscript for publication.

Lee, Y., Marshall, M., & Wiatt, R. Giving, Selling, or Liquidating: Exit Strategies of BIPOC Small Business Owners. Preliminary regression results show that BIPOC business owners were more likely to choose stewardship exit strategies rather than liquidate. This finding is consistent with previous findings. BIPOC business owners were also more likely to give or sell their businesses to familiar successors than to liquidate their businesses.

Extension Presentations

(Theme 5) February 22, 2024: Succession Planning for Farm Businesses: Management Transfer and Farm Family Meetings. Presented by Renee Wiatt at the 2024 Midwest Mint Growers Conference, South Bend, Indiana.

(Theme 5) February 21, 2024: Handling the Inevitable: Dealing with Conflict in Succession. Presented by Renee Wiatt at the Ag Women Engage Pre-Conference, Transferring the Farm’s Legacy Program. Grand Wayne Convention Center, Fort Wayne, Indiana

(Theme 5) February 15, 2024: Transitioning the Family Farm: Management Transfer and Farm Family Meetings. Presented by Renee Wiatt at Peterson Ag Services, Pioneer Annual Meeting. Remington, Indiana.

(Theme 5) January 30, 2024: Mind Your Farm Business – Ep. 93: Don’t Wait for the Grave for Farm Transition. Interview on RealAg Radio, Sirius XM by Shaun Haney of Renee Wiatt: https://www.realagriculture.com/2024/01/mind-your-farm-business-ep-93-dont-wait-for-the-grave-for-farm-transition/.

(Theme 5) January 23, 2024: Management Transfer, Buy-Sell Agreements, and Job Descriptions. Presented by Renee Wiatt and Ed Farris. Indiana Horticultural Conference and Expo, Danville, Indiana.

Engagement/Outreach

LeHew, M. L. A., Doty, K., Irick, E., Das, D., Diddi, S., & Manchiraju, S. (2024, June). Charting the future of fashion: Identifying transformative education approaches. Presented at the XXV IFHE World Congress 2024, June 23-28, Galway, Ireland.

Doty, K., Greder, K., Cobb, K., & Griffin L. (2024, April). Dancing with systems: A solutions-focused philosophy for integrating circular economy principles into design education and practice. [Oral presentation]. Fashion and Play Symposium Proceedings. University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.

Abstracts:

Doty, K., LeHew, M. L. A., Irick, E., Jorgensen, J., Das, D., Manchiraju, S., & Diddi, S. (2024). ​​A sustainable fashion industry is imperative and a transition to a circular economy (CE) will assist in reaching that goal. CE replaces the linear take-make-waste model with one where all products, post-use, undergo decomposition or are reprocessed into new items. The realization of a circular fashion system demands the re-localization of fiber, fabric, and apparel production to reduce the production of carbon through shipping. Unfortunately, the U.S faces a challenge in a circular economy transition due to the insufficient infrastructure resulting from the loss of production capacity through globalization. The proposed project explores challenges and opportunities confronting the development of a sustainable wool industry in the North Central region and identifies avenues for economic development fostering entrepreneurial activities throughout the supply chain, and long-term success of small wool fiber-based businesses, while enhancing rural community vitality. The project aligns with NCRCRD priority to create resilient communities and economies.

LeHew, M. L. A., Doty, K., Irick, E., Das, D., Diddi, S., & Manchiraju, S. (2024, June). This concept paper presents a philosophy of the design process for the practice and teaching of design and the circular economy that focuses on solutions and reduces the anxiety associated with contemplating climate change. The researchers guided the audience through a collaborative exploration of the gamification of the design process. Specifically, they examined a dynamic tool that aids designers in creating solutions grounded in circular economy principles. This tool assists designers and circular economy collaborators in articulating and navigating the complexities of designing for a broader system scope with multiple layers of goals (environmental, social, economic), scales (size, time, geographic), stakeholders, material flows, and design elements.

Love of Work or Love and Work: Does a Business Owner’s Compulsion to Work Pay Off?

A business owner’s compulsion to work is a condition that can have jarring effects on business-owning families. A compulsion to work has been defined as a component of workaholism. A random sample of 478 small business owners in the United States were classified as “compulsive” and “non-compulsive” owners using cluster analysis. A probit regression was used to determine the characteristics associated with being a compulsive owner. The probability of being a compulsive owner was lower for female owners, was higher as the number of children in the house increased, and was inversely related to family-business functioning. Further analysis found that compulsive owners did not have higher business incomes than non-compulsive owners. Thus, a compulsion to work did not appear to pay off for small business owners. We contribute to the literature by identifying factors associated with compulsive owner tendencies and if those tendencies lead to higher business income. 

The ‘silver tsunami’: community embeddedness and small business owner exit strategies

Over 50% of small businesses in the U.S. have business owners over the age of 55 and the majority do not have a planned exit strategy. Trillions of dollars in wealth will be transferred in the next decade. Business owner exit is associated with financial and non-financial factors. For rural business owners, in particular, non-financial factors or socioemotional wealth may play a key role in the exit strategy they choose. Business owners have many different paths to exit their businesses such as giving, selling, or liquidating their businesses. A multinomial logit model was used to determine the association of socioemotional wealth (SEW) with the choice of four common exit strategies employed by rural small business owners. The data were from a national survey of U.S. small business owners. Business owners with high SEW were more likely choose stewardship strategies rather than liquidate. Rural business owners compared to their urban counterparts were less likely to choose to sell their businesses to non-family members which may have implications for rural main street over the next decade.

Yoon, L., Cheang, M., Jasper, V. & Wiatt, R. (2024).  Work-Family Boundary Interaction and Business Performance: How Do Women and Men Business Owners Differ? Community, Work & Family.

Abstract:  In this study, we examined the factors associated with business performance among small businesses in the United States, while comparing differences in work-family interface issues between women (n = 266) and men (n = 232) business owners (N=498). Using data from the 2019 Small Business Values Survey (SBVS), regression results indicated that all else being equal, women business owners reported significantly lower business income than their men counterparts. Regression results also revealed that work-family boundary disruption was positively associated with perceived business profitability and successful family-business functioning was positively associated with both perceived profitability and business income. On the other hand, operating businesses from home was negatively associated with both perceived profitability and business income.

Martinez-Palomares, J., Valdivia, C., Cheang, M., Zuiker, V. & Katare, B. (2024).  Coping Strategies of Families and Small Businesses in Times of Significant Income Reduction or Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Journal of Family and Economic Issues.

Abstract:  What strategies do families and small businesses across the United States use to cope with a drastic reduction or loss of income because of the COVID-19 pandemic?  Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted using a nationally representative sample to examine the association between coping strategies used to deal with income reduction or loss, and health and subjective well-being. Findings suggest that while families and small businesses are resourceful in normal times, during periods of non-normative shocks of such magnitude and extended period of time as the COVID-19 pandemic, without systems and structural supports from the government, the conventional ways of coping (e.g., use of savings, reaching out to family and friends, and getting assistance from food pantries) may not be sufficient to help families and small businesses to recover from such unexpected life events.