Rich Simmonds

Background

About Rich Simmonds

I have been working with family businesses and their advisors in the Pacific Northwest for more than three decades. As a Seattle-based family business consultant, I assist Northwest family-owned businesses in developing their business boards and family boards, transitioning from one generation to the next, and developing next-generation leadership. • Governance – Creation of advisory and fiduciary boards and family councils • Succession Planning – Ownership and leadership transition planning • Next-Generation Development – Assessment and development of core competencies • Family Business Meeting Facilitation – Objective guidance through communication and generational challenges I am involved with the family business initiatives at Gonzaga University, and I was previously involved with the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Board of Central Washington University and the Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State University. I am on the boards of several Northwest family-owned businesses and the Family Enterprise Research Council, an international nonprofit organization that conducts and promotes family business research. In 1995, I co-founded Tyee Asset Strategies, a wealth management company located in Seattle, Washington, that grew from a startup to $4 billion in assets. I served as Tyee's Chairman until 2003, when it was acquired by Laird Norton Company, an eighth-generation family business.