History of the Christian Business Network

It was an early morning in the winter of 2000 while I was on my morning jog that the Holy Spirit first put the idea in my head to start a networking organization for Christian businesspeople. At the time, I was working my 50-60 hour week job, helping my wife operate a small retail sign store, serving as a Deacon at our church, and trying my best to be a good husband and father of two.

Our sign shop had been a real financial and emotional drain over the previous couple of years, so my wife and I were trying to market the business by joining multiple networking organizations (Network Professional Inc, Chamber of Commerce for both Columbus and Gahanna, Greater Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau, Rotary, a TIPS group, and a Barter Exchange group). It seemed like there was a different social event every night where one of us would go immediately after our daytime responsibilities to market the business while the other would tend to the kids.

This situation weighed heavily on my mind when the Holy Spirit led me to start a networking organization where fellow believers could connect for support, exchanging leads, learning, and building relationships that were based on more than just the bottom line. Not knowing where this might lead I discussed this idea with my wife. We thought for sure there would already be an organization like this already in existence. However after researching the topic , Christian Blue Pages, and fellow Christian businesspeople, we learned that nothing like this existed in Central Ohio. Though we struggled with the idea of starting one more thing in our already jammed lives, God kept nudging me to pursue this. My wife arranged for us to meet with management at WCVO (now 104.9 The River) to discuss promoting an initial meeting over the airways.

They were very excited about the idea and featured some 30 second promo spots to publicize the initial meeting in June 2000. Some friends of ours from church owned a small Italian restaurant and agreed to host our meeting. We were hoping for 15-20 people at this initial session. We ended up having 66 people attend, though the restaurant only had seating for 45. With the restaurant packed with people dining on pizza and pasta we held our first meeting. The excitement in the air let us know right away that this was in accordance in God’s plan and that we were in for quite a ride.

We began accepting memberships in January, 2001. The interest and enthusiasm was absolutely phenomenal as we continued to pack this small restaurant month after month. We started our second chapter at the WCVO studios in summer of 2002. With the help of our corporate members at the Christian Blue Pages chapters started popping up in Cincinnati and Dayton as well. Now we have four to five chapters each in the Cincinnati and Dayton Regions and eight chapters in Central Ohio. Cleveland and Pittsburgh are the first chapters outside of central and southern Ohio. Currently CBN-USA is discussing chapters with Christian business people in other areas throughout the country.

I have no idea where God will ultimately take this organization, but there are no signs of slowing down at this point. CBN-USA is currently going through some significant organizational enhancements as we try to gear up for the next growth phase. I pray daily for God’s direction and involvement with the Christian Business Network. It has been very gratifying to hear all the testimonials from members over the years who credit their affiliation with CBN for personal and professional blessings.