Business Leadership Summit

Michael has flourished in the business community analyzing new markets and establishing start-up businesses with his partner Roland Thompson. He spent 10 years in marketing and advertising for financial organizations, and his background includes a unique mix of financial, marketing, sales, customer service, and business analysis.

Michael co-founded and currently serves with Thompson & Blackstone, Inc., a business think-tank located in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

In 1998, Michael Blackstone co-founded Frontline Education, best known for Aesop, an automated substitute placement and absence management system for K-12 school districts.

Michael also co-founded CF InFlight, LLP, a specialty camera sports broadcasting company (best known for the Skycam camera) that was sold in 2004.

In 2010, Michael, along with Roland Thompson, started a charitable foundation called SEED (Stewards Equipping Evangelism and Discipleship) and currently serves as a board member.

He also sits on the board for Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa.

Michael lives in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Julie, and has three children and three grandchildren. Michael is active in his church, Bible Baptist Church of West Chester, and he has served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher.

As a young man, Ed began working for his father and brother in the family business known as Graco Children’s Products. He completed his B.A. from the University of Miami in 1967. Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, Ed served in various capacities within the company. In 1982, through a variety of challenging circumstances, he assumed the role of CEO. He and his executive team led the company through significant growth over the next 10-plus years.

In 1996 Graco was sold, and Ed began CF Capital. As a private equity firm, CF Capital specializes in helping Christian entrepreneurs with financial and leadership advice as they build businesses using Biblical principles. Ed has also served on several for-profit and nonprofit boards, including Christian educational institutions.

Ed accepted Christ as his personal Savior at age 11, having been raised in a Christian home with a godly father to mentor him. Ed and his wife, Jane, have been married for 52 years and have five children. One of his greatest joys is spending time with his 22 grandchildren, with all but nine residing near his home. The Cones met at High Point Baptist Chapel, and both have actively served within the church for many years. They have recently moved to a different church and are enjoying meeting many new Christian friends. Ed served as an adult Sunday school teacher for many years, and Jane has taught two-year-olds for over 40 years. They have lived in the Elverson, Pennsylvania area since 1959.

Dr. Marty Herron is a graduate of Bob Jones University and of the Camp Director’s Institute of THE WILDS. He spent several years traveling throughout the US with a revival team before moving to Northland Camp and Conference Center in 1982. While at Northland, Dr. Herron served in a variety of capacities including Camp Director, Dean of Students, and Vice President of Student Affairs, along with teaching courses in the College.

In July 2000, the Lord called Dr. and Mrs. Herron and their family to Guam as the Senior Pastor of Harvest Baptist Church and Harvest Ministries. Harvest is a multi-faceted ministry in a poly-cultural island in the Pacific.

In October of 2018, the Herrons embarked on their third ministry when God called them to serve as Executive Vice President of Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, IA. The burden of this move has been to help train ministers to go out into full time ministry internationally and take the Word to the World.

Dr. Herron and Tami have been happily married since 1979 with four grown, married children and sixteen grandchildren with four more in Heaven.

Dave’s 46-year career in the automotive industry is dedicated to researching, designing, and implementing innovative automotive safety, mobility and consumer technologies, Since retiring from Ford Motor Research in 2006, Dave,
as principal at MTS LLC, has worked with leading automotive manufacturers and suppliers to assess emerging technology trends and the implications for their companies.

He has written several industry reports on wireless technologies, in-car user interfaces, and mobile device integration in vehicles. His Consumer Electronics Show (CES) report, “An Insider’s Look at Trends and Implications for the Automotive Industry,” was purchased by leading automotive manufacturers and suppliers to track key mobility and electronics advancements.

Recently, Dave was a contributor to the U.S. Department of Transportationsponsored report, “Implementation Guide for Vehicle-to-Everything (Wireless) Infrastructure Owner Operators Implementation Guide,” a set of recommendations for new transportation projects in U.S. Smart Cities.

Dave’s extensive network of professional connections, established over 31 years, as a Ford Design Engineer and Manager, has enabled him to work with and mentor new clients and startups. He has also assisted “workers” in challenging regions of the world to develop businesses as a platform to reach unreached communities with the Gospel.

At Ford, Dave played a key role in advancing high-volume automotive technologies that continue to shape the industry today. These include:
• Powertrain sensors for emission reduction and engine performance
• In-car entertainment systems including high-fidelity audio
experiences
• Pioneering radar and camera-based Adaptive Cruise Control, a critical
building block for autonomous vehicles
• Voice-activated navigation systems and infotainment systems

An industry breakthrough Dave contributed to was the introduction of smartphone integration and connectivity through Ford SYNC, unveiled at CES in 2008. This innovation was adopted by all automotive manufacturers for in-vehicle smartphone connectivity.

At Magna R&D in 2015, Dave leveraged his network and expertise to identify promising technologies and startups for acquisition. Currently, as his LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmcnamaramtsllc/) details, Dave leads business development efforts, continuing his mission of fostering innovation in the industry and advancing new businesses.

Dave earned his Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1973 and his master’s degree with honors from the University of Florida, Gainesville, in 1976. He holds five U.S. Patents in the areas of sensors, vehicle security, and navigation.

Dave and his wife, Nancy, a Bob Jones graduate, are blessed with two sons and five grandchildren. They are active members of InterCity Baptist Church in Allen Park, Michigan.

In August 2019, Pastor Nathan Mestler became the fifth president of International Baptist College and Seminary (IBCS).

Pastor Nathan spent his early years in Bernalillo, New Mexico, where his father was a pastor. He was saved and baptized at age 7. When he was 11, his family moved to Nairobi, Kenya, to be missionaries and church planters. At age 16, Nathan dedicated this life to full-time Christian ministry.

He attended International Baptist College, then in Tempe, Arizona, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Bible and Christian Service with a Missions emphasis in 2003. After he and his wife Bethany were married in 2004, they moved to Lansdale, Pennsylvania, where he entered the Master of Divinity program at Calvary Baptist Theological Seminary. He completed the M.Div. in 2009 and remained at the seminary for another year to continue in the Master of Theology program.

In 2009, Pastor Nathan and his family returned to Arizona, where he began to work on the staff at International Baptist College and Seminary, now in Chandler, Arizona. He served as the Dean of Students for seven years before becoming the college pastor at Tri-City Baptist Church in 2016. Pastor Nathan was ordained to the ministry in February 2010, and one year later, was sworn in as a Chaplain in the Arizona Air National Guard. He has achieved the rank of Major and serves as the Wing Chaplain for the 1,800 airmen of the 162d Wing in Tucson, Arizona.

He was installed as the president and CEO of IBCS in the spring of 2020 and continues to teach Bible and Biblical languages in both the undergraduate and graduate programs at IBCS.

Pastor Nathan’s favorite quote is, “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” Nathan loves to preach and teach the Word of God especially to young people.

Chris Pearson grew up on a farm in southwest Iowa. His upbringing fueled a passion for agriculture that led him to spend his career building and running farmer-owned cooperatives in Iowa and the Dakotas. He has served in senior executive and board roles spanning the Grain, Agronomy, Precision Ag, Feed, Energy, and Ag Services sectors since 2002.

In 2017, he led the merger of two of the largest agricultural supply cooperatives in the United States. The result of the successful merger vote by the cooperative members was the formation of Agtegra Cooperative, based in Aberdeen, South Dakota. He served as CEO of that organization for nearly 5 years.

Agtegra’s purpose is “To do something great for farms and farm families that nobody else will do.” That mission is executed by 850 fulltime employees that work at over 70 locations across a large portion of the production areas of North and South Dakota. Total revenue when Agtegra formed in 2017 was projected to be $1.8 billion and in 2021 revenue had grown to $2.5 billion. Agtegra is currently the largest locally owned agriculture supply cooperative in the nation.

In 2022, Chris became Vice President of Crop Nutrition and Cooperative Alliances for Winfield United, the crop inputs and insights business of Land O’Lakes, inc., which is also an agricultural cooperative. In this role he operates the fertilizer business for the United States and Canada and also serves a role with local cooperatives, assisting them with Mergers and Acquisitions, strategic planning, CEO and Board advisement, and promotion of the farmer-owned cooperative business model.

In 2024, Chris became President of Purina Animal Nutrition, another division of Land O’Lakes which delivers $5 billion a year in top-line revenue. The animal nutrition team distributes a full line of nutritional solutions for farmers, ranchers, backyard hobbyists, zoos, and labs through a national distribution channel that is made up of independent Purina dealers, large farm and ranch stores, and cooperatives as well as maintaining on online presence.

Chris accepted Christ as his savior at a young age and was fortunate to be raised in a Christian home. While working at the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp, Chris met Rachel Holub and they were married the following year after attending one year at Faith Baptist Bible College. The Lord has blessed them with 5 children and 6 grandchildren.

Jim is the owner of Entire Image, a commercial embroidery company servicing the corporate, athletic and golf apparel needs for customers such as Adidas, TaylorMade, Peter Millar, Cintas…

Jim and his wife Rose Ann also founded Christ Freedom Home, a nonprofit ministry that assists men and women transitioning from substance abuse, life dominating sins to productive, God honoring, fruit bearing lives by the grace of God.

Jim and Rose Ann live in Greenville, SC along with their two married children and six grandchildren.

Roland has spent his career applying Biblical principles of leadership and decision-making to business. His experience spans from startups to Fortune 500 companies operating in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Roland currently co-operates Thompson & Blackstone, Inc., a business think tank and investment evaluation platform. His background includes a mix of entrepreneurism, business analysis, engineering, and design. He was also the cofounder of both Frontline Education and CF InFlight, LLP. Frontline Education is an Ed-Tech platform used by most school districts in America, and CF Inflight engineered and introduced the Emmy award-winning Skycam (www.skycam.tv) to the sports broadcasting world (Skycam is used all over the world and is featured on almost all major market American football broadcasts, including Monday Night Football). He has a tremendous amount of experience analyzing new markets and establishing and growing businesses. Prior to these ventures, he spent 10 years building an IT services organization focused on delivering services and software for stock and currency trading applications, as well as developing mobile technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies.

Roland lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Lisa, and has three children: Christopher, Stephen, and Alicia. Roland is active in his church, Bible Baptist Church of West Chester, and has served as deacon, the chair of deacons, a Sunday school teacher, and a youth worker.

Roland also sits on various foundation, and educational institution boards. He also enjoys mentoring young Christian entrepreneurs as well as flying.

Dr. Jim Tillotson holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Ministry degrees from Northland Baptist Bible College, and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bob Jones University in 2016.

Prior to coming to Iowa, Dr. Tillotson helped plant Meadowlands Baptist Church in Edmonton, Alberta where he served as the senior pastor for 18 years. During that time, he led the church in planting three new churches and revitalizing a church as well as starting a Christian School and helping start a Bible Institute.

In 2015, God called Dr. Tillotson to serve as the President of Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa. During his time as President God has blessed Faith in providing growth both numerically and financially. He also has led the school through two building projects and the celebration of Faith’s 100 year anniversary.

He and his wife Joan have three children and three sweet grandchildren.

Terry has experienced leadership in both business and academia. For 25 years he was involved in automotive marketing in Michigan, servicing companies like Volkswagen, Volvo GM Heavy Truck, and predominantly Ford Motor Company. He completed his marketing career as Vice President in one of the largest marketing communications firm in the country. While serving on the board of directors of Clearwater Christian College, God began leading and ultimately moving him and his family to Florida to become Vice President of Institutional Advancement. He served there for 11 years, the last two as Senior Vice President. Over the last nine years, he has been the Director of Cornerstone Foundation and part of the team at CF Capital, a private equity firm. A majority of his time is spent helping ministries with management issues while evaluating their needs for the Foundation. In his role at CF Capital, he continues to look for business opportunities while personally investing in Christian business leaders.

He is married to Jill, who faithfully serves with him in his role at Cornerstone Foundation. They are both actively involved and committed to serving in their local church. When not traveling, they make time visiting their two sons and their families, finding great joy investing in their four grandchildren.