UBS Family Business Leadership Speaker Series

Family Business Speaker Series, Open to the Community

Each year, we invite Family Business Leaders to join us for a talk open to the Tepper and broader Pittsburgh community.

Speakers include family business leaders, family enterprise thinkers, as well as advisors targeting particular pain points around succession, valuation, mediating family conflict and other family business specific topics.

2023-24 Family Business Leadership Speaker Series

Edward W. Stack
Executive Chairman,
Dick's Sporting Goods

It’s How We Play The Game: How DICK’S Built Its Business From a Small Bait and Tackle Shop to America’s Largest Sporting Goods Retailer

Wednesday, November 29, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
CMU, Simmons A, Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue

Ed Stack is the executive chairman of DICK'S Sporting Goods, the largest, omni-channel sporting goods retailer in the United States. In addition to overseeing merchandising for the company, Ed leads several of DICK'S key strategic growth initiatives.
 
From 1984 through January 2021, Ed served as the company's chairman and chief executive officer. He led the company through a remarkable period of growth, guiding the company's evolution from two stores in upstate New York to a Fortune 500 company with more than 850 DICK'S Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands and Going, Going, Gone! stores.
 
A passionate advocate for youth sports, Ed has led DICK'S Sporting Goods' efforts to help more than one million young athletes across the country play sports through support from DICK'S and The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation's Sports Matter program, the largest such charitable initiative of its kind.
 
Following the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, he and the company made the decision to stop selling assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines and raised the age to purchase any firearm to 21. He also appealed to Congress to make changes to the nation's gun laws. Ed has vowed to keep the conversation going around commonsense gun reform until meaningful change is realized.
 
For his work in business, leadership and advocacy, Ed has received numerous accolades. In 2020, he received the CeaseFirePA Keystone Courage Award, a Corporate Citizenship Award from the Committee on Economic Development at The Conference Board and a Courage in the Boardroom award from the Corporate Board Member organization. He has been recognized as one of the most influential business leaders in Pittsburgh by the Pittsburgh Business Times (January 2020) and a Pittsburgh person of the year by Pittsburgh City Paper (December 2019). He also was honored with the Maverick in Leadership Award by The Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute (June 2019), recognized as a Force for Good from the CECP: The CEO Board of Boards (February 2019) and named a Groundbreaker by The New York Times at its 2018 DealBook Conference.
 
Ed is the author of It's How We Play the Game: Build a Business. Take a Stand. Make a Difference. He serves on the board of directors of the National Retail Federation and the advisory board of Wharton's Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative. He is also a member of Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety. Ed formerly served on the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Seton Hall University Board of Trustees and the KeyCorp Board of Directors. Ed earned his Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in accounting from St. John Fisher College.

George Tong (MSIA '90)
President,
Gemini Food Corporation

Managing a Multi Cultural and Intergenerational Family Business

Wednesday, February 7, 2024
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor, 4765 Forbes Avenue

George is currently the President and CEO of Gemini Food Corporation, Tong Enterprises and Gemini Food Taiwan, a nationwide grocery import/export/distribution business.  George assumed his current position upon retirement of his father and founder of Tong Enterprises, Chiun Mau Tong, in 2009.  He is a visionary leader in the Asian grocery import/distributing industry with 30 years of innovative ideas and industry leading management practices.

George joined his family business, Tong Enterprises, in 1991 upon finishing his graduate studies, having received his BS from University of Notre Dame and earned his MSIA (MBA) from Carnegie Mellon University.  George helped his father grow the family business from a regional import/distribution business to a national import/distribution business with coverage throughout the entire United States, Canada, and export operations to South Pacific and Latin America.  He introduced the vertical integration of import supply chain with launch of Gemini Food and Gemini Food Taiwan, and nationwide point-to-point distribution networks to the industry by being the first one to execute this vision.  George’s other notable achievement was being one of the first importers to offer popular Asian branded grocery products to Costco.  The success of those early day programs led to the current nationwide Costco Ethnic Programs.

George has been active in Scouting for many years, including a successful tenure as Scoutmaster for a local Troop.  He also served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area. 

Helen Hanna Casey
CEO,
Hanna Holdings

Wednesday, March 13, 2024
12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor, 4765 Forbes Avenue

Helen Hanna Casey has been a Real Estate industry leader for more than four decades, repeatedly being named the Most Powerful Woman in Real Estate by the Swanepoel Power 200 report for the past 10 years, as well as being recognized as a Top 10 Industry Leader overall. She was the first person to be named a Newsmaker by RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine, has been named 100 Most Influential People in Real Estate list by Inman News and was honored with the 2019 Women of Influence Career Achievement Award from The Pittsburgh Business Times. In addition, she has received two honorary doctorates and is often a requested keynote and featured speaker for women’s groups and business leaders throughout the country.

Family Business Course

Offered through Tepper School of Business

This course is geared towards students who are involved with the management of a family business, either their own or someone else’s. The course is relevant as well to those interested in family firms as prospective targets in mergers and acquisitions, as well as students interested in a career supporting family enterprises via succession planning, estate planning, or through management consulting.

Offered Annually, Mini 2