An Interview with Clem Barrere, CBI, Fellow of the IBBA and President of BIEF
by Dora A. Lanza, CBI, CSBA, MEA
As Business Intermediaries, often times we become so overwhelmed navigating our transactions and promoting our business that we oversee the resources readily available to us as members of IBBA. One such resource is BIEF!
In Spring 2008 I had the opportunity to interview Clem Barrere, President of BIEF, a non-profit organization founded to promote our profession.
Q. What is BIEF?
A. The Business Intermediary Education Foundation (BIEF) is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization whose purpose is to elevate the business brokerage, intermediary, and merger & acquisition professions. The Foundation’s vision is to promote competency, skill, knowledge, value, and prosperity of the professions worldwide while building bridges into communities of business advisors, owner, buyers and sellers that the profession serves. BIEF is an independent organization for the broadest benefit of the profession and is neither owned nor controlled by the IBBA. The Foundation provides grant monies for educational projects which are beyond the scope and charter of IBBA, its affiliates, and similar trade associations.
Q. If you were the one with the vision, how did you come up with the idea for BIEF? (Or who was the visionary?)
A. I was not the visionary. The idea for a foundation began in 2001, and by 2002 then IBBA President Henry Hicks and past IBBA President Bob Gurrola formed a group of interested IBBA members to pursue the idea.
Q. Tell me about the founding group:
A. Past presidents and directors of IBBA made up the founding group, and Bob Gurrola became the Chairman of the group. The members had had a long history and careers in the fields of M&A and business intermediaries and recognized that there was a large gap in services which trade organizations such as IBBA could deliver to meet the needs of its business community. Many in this group had past experience with the management of charitable foundations.
Q. What is BIEF's organizational structure?
A. Eight of the nine Board members serve staggered terms of three years and are elected by the existing Board of Directors. One board seat is reserved for the Chair-Elect of IBBA and therefore is for one year of service instead of three.
There are two standing committees in BIEF. The Grants Committee is charged with developing all the grant programs, soliciting grant requests, allocating funds to grant programs, and managing all grants issued by the BIEFoundation.
The Development Committee is charged with creating all the donor programs and communications as well as measuring their effectiveness.
Q. Who are the current Officers and Board of Directors?
Officers & Directors
Clem A. Barrere, Jr.
CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
President
Fred G. Jager
M&AMI, CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Vice President
Jim Afinowich
M&AMI, CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Treasurer
Mary Jane Dailey
M&AMI, CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Secretary
Andy Cagnetta, Jr.
CBI, BCI
Director (IBBA’s President Elect)
Henry L. Hicks
M&AMI, CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Director
John C. Johnson
M&AMI, CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Director
Clyth MacLeod
CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Director
Thomas L. West
CBI, Fellow of the IBBA
Director
Q. Was it difficult to get the organization up and running?
A. Considering that the idea for a charitable foundation was first stated in 2001, and the Foundation became fully operational in 2007, you could say that there were difficulties in getting it up and running. Foundations have a unique set of state and federal requirements, and preparing the necessary documents which describe the responsibilities of the Foundation and its officers did take time. Then there was the effort to raise funds to meet an initial goal of $100,000 prior to actually rolling out programs to award grant money for educational projects. Fortunately IBBA provided seed money of $25,000 at the outset which covered most of the startup costs of outside legal and accounting fees, administrative fees, and printing and mailing costs of brochures and other materials. We had wonderful in-kind donations of services for legal, tax, and web hosting. An incredible number of unpaid hours of volunteer services from the Founding Group and the generous donations of our Founding Contributors allowed us to meet our initial financial goals.
Q. What was the most challenging aspect of this undertaking?
A. Surprisingly, the most challenging part has been to get our constituents, the M&A Intermediaries and business brokers, to ask for money to fund their own projects. Perhaps that is because there has not been another charitable organization available to promote their interests in the past. Secondly, the challenge is always to find donors before there is a track record of accomplishments by the Foundation. Fortunately our “Founding Contributors” had faith and now can see the vision coming to reality.
Q. What is the main goal for BIEF?
A. To provide financial support for educational projects which will enhance and improve the M&A Intermediary and Business Brokerage profession and cannot be undertaken by IBBA or similar organizations.
Q. How are funds donated to BIEF used?
A. Thanks to the seed money provided by IBBA, only a very small percentage of donations are earmarked for accounting and administrative charges. The majority of donations go directly to projects that will directly benefit the profession.
Q. What is the process to be a recipient of BIEF?
A. There are actually two ways to receive grant monies from BIEF. The traditional way that Foundations operate is for the individual or company to simply ask for money. Of course they have to have a project in mind and show how the funds would be used. BIEF has not received any requests yet and it probably is because the idea of an organization giving money away to business brokers and M&A Intermediaries is quite unusual.
So BIEF has been pursuing the second route of defining grant projects for our profession and inviting the companies to apply for grant money. The summer intern program is the first such program and we have several other programs on the drawing boards.
Q. Last year BIEF promoted an intern program. Tell me how this program works and who can participate?
A. The purpose of this intern program is to encourage young people to consider joining our profession as a major career path and to promote our industry to the surrounding business community and colleges. BIEF will pay to the hiring company up to 20% of a summer employee’s salary, capped at $1,000. BIEF offers a complete guide on how to set up an intern program within a company, how to find suitable candidates for the job, how to manage the intern and how to evaluate the intern’s performance. Suggestions are also offered on how to gain company recognition in the business community.
This program is open to all business brokers, intermediaries, their firms, donors, and interested parties.
Q. How successful was this endeavor?
A. We awarded grants to two companies to try out this program. One was to a company which had never had a summer employee before. Our Grants Committee successfully tested the management system we had developed.
Q. Will you be doing it again this year?
A. Yes, we have already notified the IBBA members in a March newsletter and will be sending out a notice to IBBA affiliates and IBBA members later this month inviting them to submit a request for a summer intern grant. We will be offering 10 summer intern grants this year.
Q. How many individuals have directly benefited from BIEF and how?
A. Aside from the two summer interns and the companies which hired the interns, there is a greater benefit available to all companies in our profession. The guidelines developed for the intern program are available at no charge to any company who wants to use them for finding and hiring new employees for their firm. From that standpoint all of the industry benefits, even if they weren’t a recipient of the grant. A copy of the guidelines can be obtained by sending a request to BIEF, 401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2200, Chicago, IL 60611-4267.
Q. Is there a process in place to follow up with recipients?
A. Yes. As a condition of receiving a summer intern grant, the company must submit an evaluation of the performance of the employee, and the intern must submit an evaluation of the summer job experience. This feedback benefits all parties: the company, the intern, and BIEF.
Q. What have you learned from doing this project?
A. We learned that in the early years of operation BIEF will have to come up with ideas for grant projects, and that we will have to create procedures to show companies how to exploit the programs for their own benefit. We also validated our systems which insured that the donors’ funds are being properly used.
Q. How has BIEF transform since its inception?
A. Like any startup organization, there are ongoing changes as you implement a vision. We have started to develop a survey to better define the ways we interact with the business brokers and the M&A intermediaries and to find the projects which would interest them.
Q. What would you most like IBBA members to know about BIEF?
A. That you have a new partner in BIEF who is interested in improving your success by providing programs to persuade business buyers and sellers of the benefits of your services, by providing programs to enhance your competency, and providing research into topics which are of value to you in your daily business.
Q. How can an IBBA member contribute to BIEF?
A. By check or credit card or by making a pledge over a two year period. Contribution and pledge forms are available at the website http://www.biefoundation.org/. Donations can be sent directly to BIEF, 401 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2200, Chicago, IL 60611-4267.
By joining a committee and volunteering your services. We invite all interested people to come to our next Board meeting at the IBBA conference in Denver on Friday June 6 at 3:30 PM. This will be the best way to find out about how you can help.
Or simply send us your ideas for projects to fund.