National Christian CEO’s Roundtable Holds Annual Conference in Honolulu

Greensboro, NC, September 19, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The C12 Group, America’s leading peer-board network of Christian CEOs and business owners, will hold its annual Leaders Conference Oct. 29-Nov. 1, 2008, at the Hawaii Prince Hotel, Waikiki.

Founded in 1992, C12 has helped change both the perception and the role of faith and practice in the marketplace, with more than 80 groups in 20 states across 50 metro areas.

Open to the general business community across the United States, the C12 Leaders Conference will cover a range of business and ministry-related topics. C12 Area Chairs Norman Katayama and Al Moy oversee groups in Honolulu and Maui.

The conference keynote speaker is Buck Jacobs, C12 Founder and Chairman. Jacobs has served as President, CEO or senior executive of several companies, including the S.H. Mack Company in St. Charles, IL, where he served as Board Director, V.P. of Sales, and helped pioneer “business as ministry.” A prolific author, Jacobs will discuss the value of a God-given idea. How do you know your idea is from God? Can you trust God to sustain you? What role does risk play in investing your life for a higher purpose through your business? What can your idea look like in the future?

Registration and detailed information is available at www.c12group.com. In addition to the sessions, attendees will have opportunity to explore Honolulu, participate in a C12 golf tournament, and participate in a number of Hawaiian excursions together.

General session and breakout thread topics include (partial list):

- Kingdom Succession Planning | Robert Beaman, C12 Area Chair
- Performance Pay Lessons | Mark Dillon, Tampa Bay Steel Corp.
- Myths and Facts of Tax-Smart Kingdom Giving | Roger Sulhoff (Private Client Advisory) and Tom Conway (Founders Associate, Haggai Institute)
- Customer-Driven Strategic Retreat | Ron Forney (with Buck Jacobs), Forney Engineering
- God’s Hand and Purpose in Our Journey | Don Barefoot, C12 Group President & CEO
- Email Marketing to Drive Sales and Retention | Peter Martin, Cactus Sky Communications
- Recession Proof Your Business with ProfitCents | Randy Warwick, C12 Area Chair
- Growing Your Ministry Vision | Ted Beckett, Beckett Development
- Creating a Win/Win Business Wellness Culture | Doug Heintz, Home Court America Sports & Fitness
- All Business Problems Are People Problems | Carl Long, Unity Business Systems
- Project Management | Kathleen Thurston, Thurston Pacific, Inc.
- 60-Minutes Strategic Plan | Sydney Reynolds, The Signature Agency
- Various Breakout Threads for Spouses

Do Faith And Business Mix?

For many CEOs and business owners, the words “God” and “business” hardly belong in the same sentence. But for more and more Christian professionals who may have been quiet about their faith in the past, there is an emerging trend in the business world that is blurring the lines between Sunday faith and Monday practice. Often referred to as “marketplace ministry” or “business as ministry,” this movement encourages Christians to use their professional leadership positions as a platform for sharing Christ’s love and advancing His work.

While not a new idea, marketplace ministry has made huge strides over the past decade. Perhaps the most remarkable development in the business-as-ministry movement is the structured, methodical approach some organizations are taking to systematically nurture, educate, and nurture faith in the marketplace.

C12 gives Christian CEOs and owners an opportunity to pursue excellence through focused business sharpening, purposeful peer interaction and sustained accountability. The C12 motto is: “Priorities are what we DO. Everything else is just talk.” This no-nonsense approach to best-practice business development creates a platform designed to produce results.

Understandably, some may question whether integrating faith and business can produce results. The C12 website features a special section called, “The C12 Difference,” which demonstrates many long-term C12 members (10 years or longer) actually outpace American Blue Chip companies in revenue and profit growth. See www.C12group.com for details and documentation on the study.

“C12 issues a clarion call for professional men and women of faith to integrate their business life with their belief and practice under the Lordship of Christ,” said C12 President and CEO Don Barefoot. “There are droves of Christian business leaders across the United States who have phenomenal potential to build great businesses and ministries, but they don’t have a peer group to plug into to sharpen, encourage and nurture them along the way. That’s one reason why we hold these national conferences – to show them there is a structured, organized effort to help them grow businesses that in a way that maximizes eternal impact.”

The C12 Experience
The C12 program is both local and global. Focused on major markets where a population of 250,000 or more exists within a 45-mile radius, C12 recruits and trains a qualified Area Chairs who operate as franchisees and build one or more groups of 10-to-15 Christian CEOs, Owners and Presidents. The groups meet once per month as a peer advisory board devoted to learning, brainstorming, problem-solving, prayer and accountability in a seven-hour session. The group meeting starts with prayer and a devotional, then progresses through a series of topical segments pertaining to improving business practices and encouraging ministry efforts.

In the afternoon one member presents an in-depth “Core Business Presentation” about his/her business, giving structured insight into company vision, strategy, operations, financials, organization development, and ministry involvement. The discussion often touches on issues pertaining to the member’s personal life, such as their relationship with the Lord, their family and mentoring relationships. The peer board gives constructive, honest and sometimes difficult, feedback as they get to know each other and “speak the truth in love.” There is strict confidentiality, which encourages open, honest discussion through the peer-board format and time is allotted for Open Table discussion where members bring issues before the group for advice and counsel. The afternoon concludes with a sharing of ‘To-Do List’ items for the next month. Competitors are not allowed in the same group.

Beyond the day-long monthly meeting, each C12 member meets for a one-on-one coaching session with their local group’s C12 Chair, a true peer facilitator with solid business and spiritual maturity.

More About C12 In Hawaii
The C12 Group Leaders Conference offers a balanced blend of sessions on business and ministry-related issues, and is open to business owners and CEOs, including non-C12 members.

“We hope to see a greater C12 presence, not only in Hawaii, but throughout the West Coast, as well” Barefoot said. C12 currently has groups in California and Oregon. “We’re trusting the Lord to move qualified Christian business leaders to step forward and help us continue to build a thriving C12 presence to serve as a blessing and transforming influence in their local communities as we continue expanding this wonderful mission.”

Embracing business as ministry, the C12 Group is a global Christian business CEO and Owner development organization that focuses on building great businesses for a greater purpose. To that end, C12 couples the timeless truths of God’s Word with best-in-class business practices to create profitable enterprises that endure as a testimony for Christ in the marketplace.



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