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CORVALLIS - Family business management is the focus of an Oregon State University course that will be taught in a "satellite classroom" and beamed to Portland, Eugene and Medford.

In Oregon, 93 percent of all businesses are family-owned, but less than 30 percent of family businesses survive their first generation, said Patricia Frishkoff, director of OSU's Austin Family Business Program.

The course Family Business Management will address concerns in family business. It will be offered Tuesday evenings, April 1 through June 3, from 7:20 to 9:50 p.m. Frishkoff said.

Frishkoff, a professor in OSU's College of Business, will teach the course. For information, contact her at 1-800-859-7609.

The course is open to seniors and graduate students at OSU, Portland State University, University of Oregon and Southern Oregon State College.

"Business owners may register for the course on a non-credit, space-available basis," Frishkoff said. "Students may attend the course in Corvallis, Portland, Eugene and Medford.

The course addresses aspects of managing an established family business on a day-to-day basis and in planning for succession to the next generation. Topics include: values, life cycles, marketing strategies, succession, conflict resolution, communications, legal and financial aspects, estate planning, governance and philanthropy.

Students will participate in on-line group discussions as a required part of the course. Guest speakers will include: Dick Boyd, president of Boyd Coffee Co.; George Hume, president of Great American; former Oregon Sen. Mark Hatfield, moderated by Bill Lane, former co-owner and editor of "Sunset" magazine; and Dennis Jaffe, a leading family business authority.

"There is no other university offering this subject in this mode or any similar mode," she said.