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The following article appeared in NJ CEO magazine and is reproduced here with permission.

MAKING HISTORY

A legal visionary guides a museum into the future

BY SUSAN BRIERLY

When it comes to her career, Jo Ann Burk is all about championing change.

In 1987, as the legal ranks were filling with female associates, women partners were still scarce. So Burk joined four other attorneys to found Cuyler Burk, P.C., in Parsippany.

“I was particularly proud to manage a highly visible commercial law firm with major corporate clients in the late 1980s - a time when women attorneys just weren’t doing that in New Jersey,” says the Chester resident and Seton Hall law school grad.

When she’s not in her office or a courtroom, you’ll likely find Burk at Macculloch Hall Historical Museum in Morristown, where her mission is preserving the past.

“This wonderful 1810 home was the residence of prominent families for five generations,” she says. “It’s seen its share of politicians, military heroes, business entrepreneurs and artists.” Indeed, past visitors include President Ulysses S. Grant and Commodore Matthew Perry. Burk sits on the board of the nonprofit museum, which boasts one of the state’s finest collections of furniture and art from the 18th and early 19th centuries.

“It’s a real pleasure to help launch events and exhibits, like the museum’s private collection of works by 19th-century political cartoonist Thomas Nast,” she says. This year Burk is taking her efforts to a new level, volunteering to launch a corporate membership program, which invites businesses to sponsor museum events.

Burk has taken on new professional roles too.

In 2007, she became CEO and majority shareholder of Cuyler Burk and was ranked by NJBIZ magazine as one of the state’s top 50 female business owners. Her firm also received its Women’s Business Enterprise National Council certification. It’s a fitting designation for a company that’s always been managed by a woman.

As a woman and a business owner, I noticed my business was missing out on opportunities it should be enjoying because we lacked the necessary certifications to be awarded work we were fully capable of providing.

However, applying for a State Certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise can be daunting. One mistake can mean waiting an entire year to try again and reapply.

So, when we decided to apply for NJ state certification, I made sure my colleagues and I were experts in the field and we learned the nuances of the certification process before we got started.

I am proud to say that our hard work paid off and we are now a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) firm certified by both the State of New Jersey and the Women’s Enterprise Network Council (WBENC). We are also certified as a Small Business Enterprise by the State of New Jersey.

Having gone through the regulatory juggernaut required to get certified, we first-hand experience with the substantive requirements, the processes and the procedures needed to emerge as a Certified Women-Owned Business.

We want to use our success in becoming a WBE for others’ gain.

Recently, we were able to do just that. A client had come to us with a problem. The State had denied their WBE Certification application on various basis, including their belief that the company was not truly managed by the minority shareholder and President.

In doing an analysis of their company and their application, we noticed shortcoming in the structuring of their organization. We were able to revise the company’s By Laws and Shareholder Agreement to make sure that they correctly reflected the management structure.

We worked with the company and their accountant to correctly value the company shares. We made other necessary changes to the corporate structure and the documentation to support it.

We make sure that your corporate structure and management meets the substantive requirements for the certification, and that your corporate documents correctly reflect your corporate structure. We’ve learned that spending a little more time on your paperwork before the certification process starts can work wonders towards achieving certification.

Before you run the risk of being denied, take steps to have your structure and documentation reviewed by someone who knows.