History of the FBR

The Family Business Roundtable began as the Pittsburgh FFI (Family Firm Institute) in 1992. At that time, its purpose was that of the FFI: to serve Family Business Advisors. In the late 1990’s, the Pittsburgh chapter of the FFI transitioned to become the Family Business Roundtable of Pittsburgh. The mission of this new organization was to serve family businesses as well as family business advisors by providing unique resources that would connect the two. Our mission at the Family Business Roundtable is to provide education, support, and networking to both family businesses as well as their advisors.

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How Did It All Begin?

Among the seven founding directors of the Family Firm Institute national organization in 1984 were two Pittsburghers, Barbara Hollander, Ph.D. and Aaron Levinson, Chairman of Levinson Steel. Barbara Hollander was elected as the first president of FFI.

Slowly, the informal meetings of FFI came to be characterized as the Family Firm Roundtable (FFR).  Toward the late 1980’s, Cynthia Iannarelli, a business owner and Ph.D. candidate in the Pitt Business School, began helping Barbara with the FFR. The Roundtable meetings were held at Eckert Seamans, Pitt, The Concordia Club, Buchanan Ingersoll, Schneider Downs and Kaufmann’s. Local membership in FFI continued to grow and there was talk of developing a smaller study group. 

On October 1, 1990, Richard C. Snebold, Jr, hosted a dinner at his firm.  Barbara Hollander hand-selected and recruited the members who were invited. James M. Dugan, CPA, Dugan Miller & Guthrie; Stephen Smith, Marblehead Associates; Joseph D.C. Wilson, III, CPA; Ann Begler, Esq., Begler, DeMarco & Ombres; Bob Williams; Cindy Iannarelli; Tony Buzzelli, CPA, Deloitte & Touche; Wendi Bukowitz, MBA; Tom Smith; Richard Snebold; and Dave Heitzenroder were in attendence.

Since that dinner, the study group continued to meet on a monthly basis and has accumulated several additional members over the years. As the Study Group members continued to recruit FFI national members, they thought about starting a Pittsburgh chapter to further connect family business advisers and owner.  One member in particular, Bob Williams, was the strongest proponent of this idea.

At this time, Cindy Iannarelli was on the FFI Board and Edward D. Wachter, Jr.,was General Counsel to the Board. Around this same time Rod Correll, FFI Executive Director and Dirk Dreux, FFI Organization Membership Chair, were working to build corporate memberships in FFI.

Barbara Hollander arranged for them to come to Pittsburgh, and through her encouragement Rich Snebold and Dave Heitzenroder, hosted another dinner, this time at the Duquesne Club on Monday, January 15, 1991. A total of 29 people attended. At the meeting, the Pittsburgh people voice their desire to have an active FFI chapter to bring together the business owners, professionals, and academics committed to family firms. Barbara Hollander and a small planning group agreed to work towards that goal.

Once again, Rich Snebold hosted a meeting with Barbara and Dave, a breakfast on September 26, 1991 at Highland Country Club. The 12 people attending laid the groundwork for the formation of a chapter and scheduled an organization meeting for December 9, 1991, in the offices of Gateway-Penn Financial Services. Dave Heitzenroder served as secretary of these and the subsequent meetings throughout the winter and spring of 1992.

Chapter night was Monday, May 11, 1992 with 88 attendees packed into the Duquesne Club. The first officers of the Family Business Roundtable of Pittsburgh were elected:

• Chair – Bob Williams
• Vice Chair – Barbara Hollander
• Treasurer – Rona Nesbit
• Corresponding Secretary – Dave Heitzenroder
• Recording Secretary – Jim Dugan
• Directors –  Dennis DeLuca, Cindy Iannarelli, Phil Sauersisen and Joe Tesone

The dinner celebrated family firms and the founding of the Pittsburgh Chapter as the first local FFI group in the Country. It was named the Barbara Hollander Chapter in honor of Dr. Hollander’s tireless work across the U.S. in promoting a clearer understanding of family business entities.