- April 7, 2016
- 11:47 am
- Andrew Keyt
- no comments
Our Story-A Look Back at the Family Business Center’s Beginning
There are times in the history of an organization when it’s important to reflect on where you’ve been. Members of the Family Business Center may not know how the Center was founded. In light of our 25th Anniversary Celebration, I thought it would be fun to share the story.
In the 1980’s, Loyola University Chicago’s School of Business hosted a few events for family business owners. Because of the unique and challenging needs that emerged from these events, three Loyola faculty members — John Ward (School of Business), Bud Murdock (School of Law), and Moni Murdock (School of Social Work) — saw the need to create a more consistent and vibrant resource for these family business owners.
With the help of $100,000 in donations from families and a few select service providers, John, Bud and Moni hired Drew Mendoza to be the first Director of the Center. Because there was no space available within the University at the time, the Center operated out of the basement of Drew Mendoza’s home for the first several years.
Form these humble beginnings and through the efforts of our members, staff, and faculty, the Center has grown to 100 families and has become one of the most robust learning communities in the world. I’m excited to announce that shortly, we will be moving into our new home in The Schreiber Center – the brand new home of the Quinlan School of Business.
And with that, I’d like to send out a big thanks to our founders and all of you who have helped us build and grow the organization over the past 25 years. Without all of you, we wouldn’t be what we are today.