Creating a Message That Cannot be Ignored

Connecting Communities and Changing Owner Outcomes: Wisconsin Chapter of EPI Expands Exit Planning Awareness with Virtual Education

Exit planning trends from 2017 are calling for further awareness and education surrounding the topics of value acceleration and exit planning from business owner and advisor alike. One strategy to serve this ever-growing need is by building a collaborative advisory community in our regions. Through these groups, advisors can sharpen their own skill sets while developing further plans and solutions to help owners build value and transition their companies. The challenge exists in building awareness while efficiently and effectively utilizing resources, namely people’s time, in widespread regions of states across the US.

The leadership of the Wisconsin Chapter of EPI, consisting of Martha Sullivan, Scott Miller, and Bill Otto, made strides towards conquering this challenge when they hosted a joint Wisconsin meeting, bringing the communities of Madison and Milwaukee together through virtual education.

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“This step is the first of its kind inside the EPI community. A step that many chapters will likely follow to affect more communities nationwide.  It’s pretty incredible and I commend the team for taking this on,” said Scott Snider, EPI Vice President.

Scott, who flew in from EPIs national office to speak on the topic of Triggering Owner Action, participated in the Madison, WI location at Honkamp Krueger. They then broadcasted the session live to the Milwaukee’s location hosted at Husch Blackwell, about a 1.5-hour drive away.

The Wisconsin Chapter proved it was possible. Eliminating the 3-hour round-trip drive between Madison and Milwaukee that many attendees make, we were able to provide better collaboration, education, and connections using technology,” said Martha Sullivan, the CEPA who designed and led the entire initiative with her team, including Eric Golueke, CEPA.

This move allows multiple communities to join the conversation around exit planning while still being able to network with each other. Scott Miller, fellow leadership team and EPI Faculty member added, “The meeting was a collaborative success and serves as a working template for better engagement and participation at chapter events going forward.

The local leadership team looks to develop the use of technology to make their meetings more impactful to more people across the region. “Up next, fine-tuning our process here so we can expand to the Fox Valley location and eliminate those advisors 4-hour round trip to the Milwaukee based chapter,” says Sullivan.

Thank you to our EPI chapter leaders for their innovation and willingness to share their thought leadership:

Want to get involved in a local EPI chapter? You can explore your options by clicking here.


About Exit Planning Institute:

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The Exit Planning Institute (EPI) is an education company that provides exit planning education to advisors and middle market business owners.  We view exit planning as a strategy, not an event.

EPI leads the professional services profession with the best industry content, ongoing support, and owner education platform, all of which align with our mission: Change the outcome.

Only 2 out of every 10 businesses that come to market actually sell.  We want to increase the number of saleable businesses.

Only 30% of family businesses successfully transition to the second generation, only 12% transfer to the third, and the success rates diminish from there.  We want to improve those intergenerational transitions.

Of those that succeed in the sale of their business, 75% experience “profound regret” within one year of exiting their business.  We want to understand why and create strategies that achieve profound success, wealth, and satisfaction.

EPI is an education company, powered by an elite community of top advisors and owners, all focused toward creating a valuable, transferable future for the business marketplace.