The former CEO of Tabasco will deliver the keynote address at the 2019 KeyBank Global Leaders Forum hosted by KeyBank and The University of Toledo Family Business Center.

Tony Simmons, great-great-grandson of the creator of Tabasco sauce, is the seventh family member to assume leadership of the family-owned and operated McIlhenny Company on Avery Island in Louisiana over five generations.

The event, titled “A Hot Topic: Success in a Changing Retail Market,” begins at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26 at the Hilton Garden Inn, 6165 Levis Commons Blvd. in Perrysburg.

Registration is required for the free, public event. Register online at utoledo.edu/centers/cfb/KeyBankLeadership.html.

Simmons plans to focus on the Tabasco brand, his recipe for success, and how to address the needs of both the family and the business.

The keynote address begins at 8 a.m., followed by a panel of local business leaders who will discuss governance and boards within a family business. Members of the panel include Simmons; Steve Wurth, president and CEO of Wurtec; Aly Sterling, president of Aly Sterling Philanthropy; and Joe Shrader, president of Shrader Tire and Oil.

The KeyBank Global Leaders Form Fund was established with the UToledo Family Business Center to bring world business leaders to our community to share their stories and engage conversations for local companies to achieve success for their business. KeyBank shares the center’s passion for learning — whether it’s for the student population or the local business community.

The UToledo Family Business Center is a member-driven organization with more than 200 family business members that provides support specifically designed for family businesses — places that have a special dynamic, one not always served by traditional “best practices” advice. Family dynamics impact family business; the UToledo Family Business Center makes that the core of its mission.