Page 18 - BusinessWest September 14 2020

REINTRODUCING THE 2020 >>
Ira Bryck
Former Family Business Center Leader Is Still Delivering Frank Talk
Ira Bryck spent 25 years as the execu- tive director of the Family Business Center of the Pioneer Valley. And
over that quarter-century, he left an indelible mark on those he helped through his rather unique style and ability to create impactful learning experiences.
These included plays he authored, dinner meetings with provocative speakers, and, quite often, frank talks about family businesses and whether people should be part of them or not.
And he continues to make a mark, even though he’s retired from the FBC, as it was called, and the center itself has gone out of business. He does it through a radio show with WHMP called The Western Mass. Business Show a variety of consulting work, and even his work in the COVID-19 era to help keep the residents of Amherst, where he has lived for some time,
safe as college students return to campuses.
In all these settings and circumstances, Bryck speaks his mind,
creates dialogue, and helps to generate progress in many forms. And that, in a nutshell — and he wrote a play called A Tough Nut to Crack — is why he is a member of the Difference Makers class of 2020.
He has decided not to join his fellow classmates for the ceremony on Sept. 24 due to a strong desire to help keep his family safe during this pandemic — two adult children and their families with New York addresses have moved in with him as they seek what amounts to higher ground during the pandemic — but he has definitely earned his place on the podium, even if he’ll be addressing his audience remotely.
That’s because, since being named director of the fledgling FBC in 1994, he has done things his way — and
in an ultimately effective way. And he has helped educate and inspire an important, if often unrecognized, segment of the local economy — its family businesses.
Bryck
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18 SEPTEMBER 14, 2020
BusinessWest
Photo by Leah Martin Photography