The International Family Business Congress has been organised by the Institute of Family Business (Inštitút Rodinného Biznisu) since 2020 and has welcomed more than 1,400 guests, over 90% of them owners and members of family firms. This year's theme is "From generation to generation - resilience isn't inherited, it's built across generations".
Two days at Château Bela will bring keynote talks from international speakers, eleven expert workshops, one-to-one consultations with congress partners, and the Family Business Festival.
Family businesses today face more than pressure to perform and grow. What increasingly matters is how leaders handle uncertainty, conflict, responsibility and long-term exhaustion. When a leader loses energy, direction or their grounding in values, the whole business and the family eventually feels it.
Participants will learn:
The workshop is led by PhDr. Zuzana Čmelíková, PhD., an expert in leadership and ethics at Forvis Mazars.
Among the congress keynote speakers is Robert S. "Bobby" Ukrop, Chairman and CEO of Ukrop's Homestyle Foods and former CEO of the Ukrop's Super Markets chain.
His ancestors, brothers Štefan and Juraj Ukrop, emigrated from Dobrá Niva to the United States in 1902. A generation later, in 1937, Joseph Ukrop opened the first store in Richmond, Virginia. That single shop eventually grew into a chain of 25 supermarkets employing more than 5,000 people, which Fortune magazine ranked among the 100 best employers in the US for four consecutive years, despite the stores closing on Sundays and selling no alcohol.
When the family sold the retail business in 2009, Bobby's side of the family retained the production arm. Ukrop's Homestyle Foods today employs 550 people and supplies prepared meals and bakery products to 250 supermarkets. In his keynote, "Leading with heart across four generations", he will show how the golden rule shaped the company's culture and decisions - and why values such as respect, gratitude and service determine long-term sustainability across generations. Later the same day he joins the panel discussion "Values under pressure" alongside Octavian Pilati and Ulrich Schmid-Maybach.
For Forvis Mazars, this meeting carries a personal dimension. As Bobby Ukrop told Forbes, the family stayed in touch with its Slovak relatives and supported the studies of a distant cousin — Zuzana Čmelíková, who now leads our leadership workshop.
If you lead a family business or are part of one, the congress is a chance to gain practical tools and to meet people navigating similar dilemmas.
Dates: 17 – 18 September 2026
Venue: Château Bela
Our workshop: Resilient leadership - How to sustain energy, values and direction in a family business
Congress programme
Developing leadership skills and resilience competencies is essential for your team to effectively manage day-to-day difficult situations and challenges. It allows to adapt to rapidly changing conditions and environment. Your organisation can also benefit from the potential positive impact on reducing employee burnout rates and related costs.
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