McCoy College’s Center for Family Enterprise hosts inaugural Lunch, Learn, and Connect

SAN MARCOS, Texas — The Center for Family Enterprise at Texas State University’s McCoy College of Business hosted its inaugural Lunch, Learn & Connect event on September 30, bringing together family business owners, enterprise leaders and next-generation family members.

​​The invitation-only event, themed Lessons from Enduring Family Enterprises, brought family business owners and stewards together to share experiences and helped the center begin building connections across Texas.

​The event, held in McCoy Hall’s Minifie Atrium, opened with remarks from McCoy College dean, Dr. Sanjay Ramchander, followed by a presentation from management professor Dr. Josh Daspit on the nature of family enterprises. Salvador Ceron, founding director of the Center for Family Enterprise, then introduced the center and its mission to support family businesses through education, research, and community engagement.

​​Brian McCoy, chair of the board and former CEO of McCoy Building Supply, shared his family's century-long business story, highlighting the importance of legacy, continuity, and long-term success across generations.

​​“We hoped to establish a foundation of trust and start a conversation,” Ceron said. “Family enterprises bring the center their most important questions about succession, ownership, and the family itself, and that requires a relationship built over time. Starting with a small cohort of founding families was a deliberate first step in building it.”

​​Following the presentations, participants connected over lunch to share experiences, learn from one another and discuss the challenges of sustaining a family business across generations.

​​“Families who run a business together often feel they’re facing these questions alone,” Ceron said. “The hope is that people leave with the sense that they’re not.”

​​The event concluded with a Founding Families discussion led by Ceron and Angela Glode, introducing opportunities for participating families to help shape the center’s future programming, research, and engagement.

​​Through events like Lunch, Learn, & Connect, the center hopes to build lasting relationships with family enterprises while creating opportunities for shared learning, meaningful connections, and conversations about long-term success. ✯

For more information about this story or other news, email Valerie Figueroa, communications specialist for the McCoy College of Business, at vlf23@txstate.edu.

About the McCoy College of Business 
Established in 1970, Texas State’s business school officially became the McCoy College of Business in 2004 following a transformational gift of $20 million by Emmett and Miriam McCoy. The college, which offers classes in San Marcos, Round Rock, and online, is accredited by AACSB in both business and accounting, and has graduated more than 46,000 alumni.