Succession Planning Workshop: Rensselaer County

TIES TO THE LAND: Planning for the Future of Your Woodlands

A Facilitated Workshop on Succession Planning

Keeping Family Forests and Farms in the Family

Date and Time: February 11, 2012, 9am-4:30pm

Workshop location: Petersburgh Veteran's Memorial Community Center, 71 Main St., Petersburgh, NY 12138
                               (Only 30 minutes from Troy, 20 minutes from Hoosick Falls, and an hour from Ballston Spa and Chatham.)

Few challenges that family forestland owners, farmers, ranchers, and other land-based family businesses face are more important than the issue of passing the land and its responsibilities on to the next generation.  Many small landowners want to preserve their family lands but don’t know how to involve family members in ownership and operation of their land.

On February 11, Cornell Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the Agricultural Stewardship Association, Rensselaer Land Trust, and Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, will present a Succession Planning facilitated workshop.  Succession Planning -- the human side of Estate Planning -- focuses on ways to maintain family ties to the land from generation to generation, building awareness of key challenges facing family businesses and motivating families to address those challenges. This workshop is a mix of DVD presentations, practical exercises, and expert panel discussions and Q&A sessions to help families develop techniques needed to address tough issues.  Topics covered will also be relevant to professionals working with landowner families.

This 1-day workshop is supported by a DVD featuring presentations by Clint Bentz (CPA, Boldt Carlisle & Smith, and Chairman, American Tree Farm System) and Mark Green (Director, Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State University), with live classroom activities conducted by facilitator Dr. Shorna Broussard Allred.  During the first half of the day, participants will gain information about the basics of succession planning, overcoming communications issues, and will learn about the elements and structure of a succession plan.  After lunch, the workshop focuses on specific tools that can be used in implementing a succession plan and will include presentations and discussions with local experts.  The workshop coaches families in developing the techniques and communications skills they need to address the tough issues and decide the future of their land. 

Topics include:

• Key legacy planning challenges, and tools to deal with them
• Determining your heirs’ interest
• Clarifying your values and goals
• Steps to succession planning
• Organizing effective family meetings
• Legal and financial instruments

Presenters include:

• John Lavelle, CPA, LL.M., who will be speaking as a tax attorney and discussing estate planning as it relates to tax issues and gifting.
• Christine Young of Rensselaer Land Trust and Renee Bouplon/Chris Krahling of the Agricultural Stewardship Association will be discussing and answering your questions about the role of land management and land conservation (such as conservation easements) in estate planning.
• Jim Bonesteel of Rensselaer Plateau Alliance will be explaining and taking questions on the Forest Service's Forestry Legacy Program.
• Sydney and Evon Antonio, local landowner, will be sharing his/her family's experience with estate planning.

We encourage multiple family members and generations to attend.  Your registration fee includes the Ties to the Land workbook & companion DVD, which are designed to help families continue to improve and direct their communications at home.  More information about succession planning is available on the Ties to the Land web site, http://tiestotheland.org/

Workshop Fee and Registration: $40 per person, $10 per each additional family member.  The fee includes refreshments, lunch, and one copy per family of the workbook and DVD: Ties to the Land: Your Family Forest Heritage (additional copies will be available at the workshop or online at the web site). You will also receive additional Succession Planning resources and materials.

Participants ought to attend the full day.

To register by credit card, please visit this link:  

https://cornell.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6FfRXBrXbdLppMo

To register by check, please fill out this form and mail it and a check to the P.O. Box provided on the form:

Workshop_Registration_Form_Renss.pdf

For questions, or if you have trouble registering, please call or email Maureen Mullen, Cornell University Cooperative Extension, at 607-254-6556, mlm394@cornell.edu. 

Our official registration deadline has passed, however there are still seats available.  Please contact Maureen as soon as possible to register.