On Feb. 19 the Family Business Alliance will be hosting an event on campus on the second floor of the Henry Student Center, in the Miller Room.

Registration for the event will be at 11:30 a.m. and the workshop titled “Boost Your Social Presence” will be from noon to 1:30 p.m. with two guest speakers, Holly Pilcavage, business development and operations at Coal Creative, and Jack Reager, president of Blackout Design, Inc.

Pilcavage and Reager will be speaking about the importance of social media presence for small family businesses, how to create a presence on social media outlets and tips and tools to better market oneself on social media.

Coal Creative was a small business that started off as a portfolio website in 2008. Pilcavage joined Coal Creative in 2013 and with her skill set and the help of the other members of the business grew into an award-winning marketing agency.

Blackout Design, created in 2003 by Reager, focuses on integrating technology with marketing solutions to help clients with marketing and strategy, web and development and print and graphic design.

Blackout Design and Coal Creative are both businesses centered in Pennsylvania with Blackout Design being located in Dunmore PA and Coal Creative functioning out of Wilkes-Barre.

Coal Creative joined the Family Business Alliance just this year along with Blackout Design. This event is also a way to start the year with a strong showing of partnership.

Both Reager and Pilcavage answered questions from the Family Business Alliance about how to best start marketing a business on social media, during a presenter spotlight they posted online.

“The best way for someone to start marketing their business on social media is to choose which channel(s) reach your target market/audience and be sure to align your branding. Once you are up and running, stay consistent and be engaging,” said Pilcavage. 

“With any digital initiative (or marketing for that matter), we suggest clients start by identifying what their goals are,” said Reager. “Transanctions like email signups, product sales/new business inquiries, or just general awareness should be positioned in your social efforts as you look to drive the audience. Be clear with your call to action and ensure the whole chain works before you publish.”

The Family Business Alliance for 20 years has stated its mission as being a trusted resource to empower regional family-owned businesses through educational programs, networking, counseling, and guidance.

Susan Reilly, executive director at Family Business Alliance, said, “FBA is a membership organization where we are focused on the family and business. We provide education benefits for family businesses. Family business accounts for 65% of the national economy, that can include anything from a pizza shop to Comcast. Our focus is to educate them on topics and issues like business succession from one generation to the next.”

Reilly expressed that FBA is important because it serves the population that is the largest provider in the area, and because a central goal is to keep family business together and being successful in a changing world.

FBA partners with both Wilkes University and Penn State Scranton, as such there will also be an event at the Hawk Lecture Hall in the business building at Penn State Worthington Scranton. Their event will be held earlier in the morning from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

This year marks FBA’s 20th anniversary. This year has already marked the beginning of new partnerships with businesses like Blackout Design and Coal Creative.

Reilly said, “A lot of firms are small, so taking a step back and marketing themselves is difficult. That is the reason for this event.”

Once again the event will be hosted on Feb 19 on the second floor of the Henry Student Center, in the Miller Room from noon to 1:30 p.m. The event will be open to free to attend but registration is needed to attend the event. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. Any student interested in registering should visit https://www.wilkes.edu/FBA for more information.