C12 Growing & Thriving

Work gets the largest single block of our lives. Yet, we tend to look for meaningful living anywhere but on the job. Imagine turning that idea on its head and living an integrated life completely full of meaning and purpose. 

Ed Phy is the owner of a specialty metal fabrication shop that has been in business for 80 years and has 10 employees. He’s the fourth-generation owner and now must decide whether to purchase a fab machine that costs more than the value of his entire business. He feels sure it is what he needs to do to keep his business profitable and able to pass to the next generation. Where can he get advice from like-minded peers who are all business owners and have Ed’s best interest in mind? 

Tim Heyl owns Heyl Group/kw real-estate. He shared his plans with like-minded business owners who encouraged him to first get his existing business on autopilot before launching into his second business. That wise counsel helped him avoid being spread too thin. Ultimately, both businesses are a huge success. 

Both companies leveraged the power of C12’s peer advisory groups to help them take their business to the next level. “That’s what I saw in the power of C12,” says Dee Brown, Principal Chair of C12 Arkansas, which launched in August of 2022. 

I am a native of Saline County, Arkansas and have been a local business owner and consultant for over 31 years for various businesses including Brown Engineers, LLC, an electrical, mechanical, and automation engineering firm as well as Brown Ranch, LLC, which raises purebred, 100% grass-fed and grass-finished Red-Devon heritage beef. Yes, I like starting new businesses and helping them grow. 

Being a business owner who has had to navigate the challenges all business owners confront, I wanted to leverage my skills to bring C12 to Arkansas. Even though C12 is the largest Christian business owners’ network in the world, we’ve never had C12 in Arkansas, until now. Other cities have many C12 members working together to grow great businesses but also see how their businesses impact the larger community. Examples of cities and (member count) are Memphis (38), Nashville (167), Dallas (168), and Austin (251), with all types of companies. I realized Arkansas is missing out on a great opportunity here. 

In fact, with over 3,800 members across the United States, over 1,000 of those have joined in the past twelve months as business owners are navigating the challenges of acquiring and retaining employees, retiring employees, ongoing supply chain delays, interest rates, inflation, and global market ripples. 

All those issues receive discussion in our monthly forums and with specific curricula to help us address each one. C12 Members came into 2023 with Strategic Plans and prepared pivot points based on market conditions. 

We typically see forums surge and members outperform in these very times, for a reason. As far as results are concerned, C12 members have seen company profits improve threefold compared to industry peers, 79% of C12 member companies have outpaced peers in economic downturns, and 75% of our members have reported significant leadership improvement since joining C12. 

One C12 Arkansas, Saline County business owner said, “Thank you for these resources. This content is phenomenal.”  

Another C12 Arkansas member after just a few months said, “The content is so amazing. Then a few months in, you prepare your Core Business Presentation, and now you are thinking about your business at a whole new level.”   

Another Saline County C12 Member said, “Thank you for inviting me to join C12. As you predicted, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for. The timing is great for me because these topics were already top of mind lately before I even knew what this organization was about, and I have been in the process of trying to restructure my schedule (or you could even say my life) to allow me time to refocus. This is going to be very good.” 

Imagine your business not only growing and thriving but also developing a culture where employees thrive—an environment where they feel secure, loved, and cared for so that they can carry out the corporate mission. 

When business leaders ask what honors God in their companies, it can help every employee see the bigger picture. It can completely transform workplace cultures, unleash human flourishing, and foster purpose-driven engagement unlike anything else. God is in the people business, and so is every business. This should compel us to build better businesses that have the capacity to take better care of people and make an eternal impact. This is how we measure success.