Pat Soldano opened the roundtable by thanking Members of Congress, congressional staff, and family-owned businesses for joining the third Family Enterprise USA (FEUSA) event of 2024 and sixth event total in coordination with the Congressional Family Business Caucus. Pat highlighted the role of the Congressional Family Business Caucus to educate Members of Congress on the impact of small, medium, and large family-owned businesses to the national economy.

Pat then presented the results of FEUSA’s survey on expiring tax provisions of importance to family-owned businesses, which featured responses from over 100 businesses in 31 states. 

We were then joined by Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) who highlighted his background as a fourth-generation family farmer and business owner. Duarte discussed upcoming tax policy challenges in 2025, including the sunset of the existing estate tax exemption level. He warned of increased compliance costs resulting from a reduced estate tax exemption and also noted the estate tax’s impact on succession of multigenerational family-owned businesses. He also discussed the negative impacts of various tax policy proposals on the ability for family-owned businesses to grow and thrive, including the elimination of step-up in basis and higher income tax rates. Rep. Duarte lastly thanked the family business owners present for sharing their stories.

Pat Soldano then introduced the panel of family-owned businesses and asked them to discuss how their business structure has impacted their companies and tax treatment. We first heard from Dawn Grove (Vice President & Corporate Counsel for Karsten Manufacturing Corporation) who discussed the history of Karsten Manufacturing and its subsidiary, PING. Dawn noted that her grandparents formed the company as a C corp to ensure company would last for several generations. Dawn noted that the majority of domestic manufacturing businesses are family-owned businesses and argued that the future of US manufacturing is imperiled by uncertainty in tax policy, the national debt, and burdensome regulations. Dawn asked Members of Congress to support the future of domestic manufacturing. Lee Goldstrand (Vice President of Domestic Sales for PING) then discussed his thirty-year career at PING and noted that PING employs approximately 1,000 employees in the United States.

Next, we heard from Bob Mancuso (CEO of Capri Capital) who discussed his background operating a family office in Florida. Bob noted that Congress and state governments are increasingly searching for additional sources of revenue to fund other policy priorities and family-owned businesses are at risk of being unfairly taxed in the future. He stressed that a hostile tax environment will jeopardize many family-owned businesses. Bob highlighted the importance of encouraging family-owned businesses to be passed on between generations and continue important legacies.

Ben MacAskill (President & CEO of Awesome) then discussed Awesome’s technology platforms, including Flickr, a social media platform, and SmugMug, a platform that supports independent photographers and photography businesses. Ben noted that Awesome began as an S corp but transitioned to a C corp to accommodate growth in the number of shareholders. However, he noted that the company has also reemphasized its identity as a family-owned business and is now focused on ensuring the business with transition between generations. Ben also noted Awesome’s main tax policy priority, restoring full research and development (R&D) expensing, which will allow Awesome to continue to grow and reinvest in its employees. He finally highlighted his family’s support of the Flickr Foundation, which works with national museums to provide historical documents to the public domain.

We then heard from John Zaruka (Founder & Director of Wedgewood Weddings) who discussed the creation of his wedding and event planning company with his wife, Linda. He highlighted that Wedgewood Weddings currently employs over 2,000 employees at locations in eight states. John noted that a private equity partner invested in his family business over ten years ago, which has resulted in a successful business relationship due to shared values. He stressed the need for consistency and certainty in tax policy, particularly the capital gains rate and the estate tax rate and exemption level.

David White (President of Superior Paving) discussed the growth of his family asphalt business, which employs over 400 employees. He noted that Superior Paving is an S corp and discussed the importance of the Section 199A deduction, which allows his family to reinvest in the business and its employees. David also discussed Superior Paving’s mission statement, which includes developing remarkable employees. He finally noted the role of trade associations in representing family-owned businesses and highlighted that 96 percent of asphalt companies are family-owned.

Pat Soldano finally presented two FEUSA videos, including a video on pass through entities and the tax implications of the pass through structure and a video of family business owners discussing how they would reinvest tax savings back in their businesses. The roundtable was then followed by a reception with family-owned businesses and congressional staff.

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