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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2004)
m battalii ices $50 rel Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Wednesday, September 29, 2004 PAGE BY JULIE BONE le oil surpass; r the first id Tuesday| eep rising p rise inglok supplies aj t in petrolein ns such ask All in the family 'or Aggie grads, inheriting a business comes with special concerns and benefits and energj, :ries could high oil prii sonal demi nter, and tie lence that ons caused are makinj Irive. t increase e past yearais up as a poll ver a month i; il election. > first hit -hours tra purred hi rebels in \ to battle ,st southern mid’s sevent: al Dutch/Sht van accounts Migeria’s 5 million hf y that insecun orced it tosh; >n in theNi| 28,000 bam; 'uesday, > boost the li production rrels, y to nove failed! ice it does ni dies would t|efa oon. bringis itioi millit! Ti 3N By Kirk Ehlig THE BATTALION Weall know the scenario: A child goes to work for the family business Ithe child goes through living hell. Or, a child doesn’t work for the nilybusiness and still goes through living hell. The stressful decision of whether to go into the family business over some students’ heads. The pressure may come from i, the students' perceived obligation or the feeling of job se- rity within the family. Joshua Kruse, a senior history major, said it was easy for him to de- go into his father’s veterinary clinic, because he never felt any sure from his father to do so. Actually, he didn’t want me to become a vet, because he knew wmany hours you have to work, and how initially, it wasn't really irth the money that you start out with.” said Kruse, who wants to aMajor League Baseball ballpark tour guide. “He let me make my ra decision.” This decision, though, might not come so easily for other students. Ithinkthey would be better served, long tenn, by getting some ex- lience somewhere else,” sa<d Danny A. Klinefelter, a professor for the paitment of Agricultural Economics and extension economist. “And ic business would be better served for them having a different ispective and experience base. Timothy N. Bryan, chairman and CEO of The First National Bank in and Class of 1972, works with his father, Travis B. Bryan, Jr., se- Khairman of the board of The First National Bank and Class of 1949. ® mothy decided to postpone working for his father at the bank and went work for the Texas Commerce Bank in Houston for 20 years. 1 thought 1 would probably end up here one day and it provided me sense of security that 1 would have a job somewhere when I got out A&M,” said Timothy, who is a descendant of William Joel Bryan, : namesake of the town. “But my preference was to go off outside of i-College Station because I had been here pretty much all my life.” Timothy said students should do what he did by leaving the nest and tag it on their own without family help, but keep the tamily business in open for the future. imothy returned to work at his father's bank 14 years ago, choosing family bank over a corporate bank in Dallas. This was more appealing to me than going to Dallas, especially since family had such a large ownership interest in this institution,” Timo- ysaid’T would have no ownership interest in the Dallas bank.” Onedownside of working with family is that the family dynamics and ofessionaldynamics don't always mesh, said Timothy. ‘There are a lot of issues that, once you’re in business together, are metimeshard to talk about because there still is the parent-child rela- ilpaswell as the personal relationship outside the business,” said Klinefelter, who is also the director of The Ex ecutive Program for Agricultural Producers, a program that deals with a lot of family-run busi nesses. This might turn a few students, who are anxious about pleasing their parents with their work, away from the family business. Klinefelter said it is important for the fam ily members to have good communication at the job, and that children and parents should discuss the expectations of the job. It’s also key for parents to not push the kids too hard and be too forceful with ideas. Timothy said it’s great working with his father because he has learned a lot about life and the community he couldn’t learn in Houston. “1 wouldn’t say he has taught me a lot about credit analysis or credit structuring because that is mostly what Houston taught me,” Timothy said. “He’s basically taught me how to navigate the local politics, how local customers want to be treated and the kind of banking that fits this area.” Timothy said concerns about coming back to work for his dad were that changes he envisioned for the company wouldn’t be welcomed because everything had been one way for so long. “That concern was totally unfounded, because after discussion of any changes 1 wanted to make, they typically agreed,” he said. “I was worried I wouldn’t be given enough authority.” “(The opportunities) to move into man agement and senior management and ... to implement your ideas, if you own it and control it, are easier.” With some expected doubts about working with family some might have, Timothy said some of the biggest positives that come from it are trust, support and the enjoyment of being around family. Michael Lau, a graduate student at A&M, decided to go back to work for his father in the family’s meat business in California, after he receives his doctorate in agricultural economics. He said that much of his reasoning is from family ties. “I grew up in the business, and 1 enjoy doing it,” he said. “My dad wants to retire one day, and he’s built a great business and 1 RYAN HUNTEN - The Battalion don’t want to see it go away,” Lau said. Even though Lau and his younger brother want to take over the family business in the future, he doesn’t want his doctorate go to waste. “It gives me an opportunity to hopefully make money and to be able to expand and hopefully get some real world experience,” Lau said. “If I ever go back and teach, instead of just saying, ‘This is how you do it,’ I can say, ‘I did this and this is what re ally happens.’” luring the M ml JniversityhoMays station, IX1MI 11 TAMIL College ■sity in Ihe Division ne: 979-84M313; I by The Baffafa id advertising, al 18 a.m. lo 5 p.t lo pick up a single )0 per school yea: Darkness Falls This October at a Haunted House near you oil sLir viv e • ? ? ? v0& ,\\ /V A© .O' ^ ^ *5 6 * o'* Not for the young or faint of heart. >> da. 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