June 2010

Cain Quoted in The Wall Street Journal Article, "Recession brings tough love to family firms"

Barry Cain, former Managing Director of Blackman Kallick's Strategic Services group, is quoted in "Recession brings tough love to family firms," an article recently published in The Wall Street Journal. Below is an excerpt from the article.

"What we are seeing is that the recession really started challenging the way they did business before, causing them to question what they thought to be the 'tried and true,'" said Barry Cain, managing director at Blackman Kallick, a Chicago accounting firm which conducted the survey in conjunction with the Family Firm Institute, a Boston-based trade group. The results should be published in September.

"The depth of the recession and the shock that came from it was a reality check for many family businesses and owners," Cain said.

Going forward, family businesses may be more transparent about compensation. The survey showed some evidence that the move toward transparency might lead to family workers taking pay cuts to bring their compensation more in line with non-family employees.

"There is a move toward more recognition that people should get paid for what they are doing and how well they are doing it. Family business owners are trying to get their compensation structures in line," Cain said.

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