Endings and new beginnings are tough business! For many founders/CEO's succession and the planning it entails is equivalent to planning their own funeral. The fact is that the transfer of power from the first to the second generation seldom happens while the founder is alive and is still on the scene. Regardless of what generations are involved, the succession transition is the most agonizing process that a Chief Executive Officer or a management team confronts. The accomplished team of consultants at Ahern & Associates, Ltd. has extensive experience in handling the shift of power.
The overriding reason many business owners don't address successor planning is simple; it's apathy and procrastination. It's the same reason why people say they're going to quit smoking and never do or lose weight and exercise more and don't. It's what we refer to as human nature. However, at the same time, 80% of all business enterprises in the United States are family owned and nearly 35% of those companies are fortune 500 companies.
Of the 500 companies in the Standard and Poor's index, 17% have Chief Executive Officer's age 63 and older. Moreover, 4 out of 10 American family businesses will change hands in the next several years. Therefore, it's important that you start planning the shift of power to the second or third generation and/or to your executive management so that your company can continue to operate and not only survive but prosper in future years. If you're a private trucking company and you have family members in the business, I would encourage you to contact Ahern & Associates for a confidential interview.
Arkansas Transit Home, Inc. (ATH) was founded in 1958 by my late father, Wendell Chandler. In fact, to Illustrate how long that is got most trucking companies, our DOT number only has five numbers.
I would like to thank you Andy for making this very important and life changing event possible. It was a great experience.
Sincerely,
Dwight Chandler
President
Arkansas Transit Homes, Inc.
We have worked with you and your colleagues at Ahern Associates for some time now. We find your expertise in the area of logistics (be it in consulting or based on being hired for acquisition analysis) to be out standing. We value the relationship and are very happy to give you this letter of reference..
You should feel free to have any party call us to discuss our experience.
Sincerely,
James M.Hill
Benesch Attorneys at Law
England has been formally associated with Andy Ahern and his colleagues for approximately the past three years primarily in the area of acquisitions. During that period, we have experienced a professionalism that is refreshing. Andy offers in-depth expertise as well as industry knowledge born from extensive experience, a combination which adds material value well beyond a normal business relationship.
We anticipate a long – term, mutually beneficial association. It was a great experience.
Very truly yours,
Keith c. Wallace,Jr.
Senior Vice President / Chief Financial Officer
C.R. England, Ind
Century Carriers, Inc. and its subsidiaries are family owned businesses that was started 1998. When the Transportation business was booming, times were great but, like other family owned businesses we didn’t prepare for the economy the past year. My wife and I lost many hours sleep and made many calls to attorneys, banks, and whom ever would listen to our story trying to figure out how we were going to save our business for our future and our children.
Andy and his team has given us hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we are making progress, thanks again.
Sincerely,
Kevin Henderson, President/CEO
Century Carriers Inc. / Century Expedited Inc.
Originally, I met Andy at a Truckload Carrier`s Conference during a round table discussion on the transition of family business. Andy was very knowledgeable about the topic and expressed many ideas that we hadn`t thought of. During the down turn of our industry in 2001, We called upon Andy, as a consultant, to help us understand how to turn our business around. We hired Ahern and Associates to come in and do businesses review. By giving us a road map to success with their intial audit, they helped turn our business around within thirty days.
Andy Ahern and Ahern & Associates have always delivered exactly what they have promised.
Sincerely,
Don Christenson, President
Christenson Transportation, Inc.
We have thought about selling our business one day, but we really didn’t know much about how to go about it. Your company contacted us a few months ago about a client of yours that was looking to buy businesses like ours. Now just a few months later, the sale is complete. Everything went very smoothly, Ahern was there to guide us through the beginning of the process. We are very happy with our whole experience with Ahern, especially Andy and Brian. They gave us personal attention any time we had questions or concerns.
Thank you,
John & Jennifer Rainney
DCT
I wanted to thank you for your guidance, leadership and support. The professionalism and dedication of you and your staff is outstanding. The knowledge you posses of the transportation industry and its inner workings was been a huge asset to us in our time of transition. With your assistance we have been able to make significant changes within our company to improve structure and productivity. Aherns onsite visit and detailed evaluation of our company has been a very valuable tool. The outside look at how we do business and the suggestions you've made to improve our overall performance have been very valuable. All of your advice and direction has been thoughtful and caring, I feel that you truly care about our business and success. You've done everything you said you would do and then some, working with you and your dedicated staff has been a pleasure and will improve the productivity of our company. I look forward to a long relationship with Ahern and Associates.
Thanks again,
Dave Dean
Specialized Business Solutions. INC
Meridian, Idaho
