EDWARDSVILLE – Attorney Todd Sivia of Sivia Business & Legal Service PC in Edwardsville has earned a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation by the Exit Planning Institute (EPI), a firm that provides strategies for professionals transitioning out of their business.
Sivia completed an intensive five-day executive MBA-style program in Chicago on the concepts of preparing business owners and their families for an exit scenario and to help them through the transition process.
The training involved lectures, group discussions, case studies, and individual exercises.
In addition to the CEPA designation that will allow Sivia to help business owners with their goals and to advise them on planning, Sivia had previous earned a Certified Exit Planner (CExP) designation in 2016. Both distinctions will enable Sivia to create and implement customized retirement plans for business owners.
Sivia said he believes the CEPA designations are a way to continue to provide client services and to expand his law practice
“This certification allowed me to understand better that exit planning is not about exiting your business, but more about changing your business from a ‘life style’ business to a ‘value creation’ system,” Sivia stated in a press release. “Every company owner should be thinking about how they’re going to exit their business. It will inevitably happen, whether by choice or accident.”
Examples of exiting a business include disability, distress within the business, divorce, or disagreement between partners.
“Are you prepared if that happens to you? What if you pass away unexpectedly? It’s not fun to think about it, but it is possible," Sivia stated. "If you’re not prepared, what value have you left to your heirs?”
Sivia has also been named to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Illinois list in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
St. Louis Small Business Monthly named Sivia Law Firm as one of the “Best Law Firms” in 2017 and one of the “Top 20 Businesses in St. Louis” in 2014.