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Dave Kier writes regularly with all kinds of practical advice based on a successful career in the animal feed business in Iowa, integrated with a vibrant faith.  The IBEC Board of Directors is the beneficiary of his wisdom, and we are blessed by him and all our board members.  Here is a recent “Leadership Tip” […]

Many of us at least casually review book lists such as Christianity Today’s Yearly Book Awards, New York Times Bestsellers, Bill Gates “Summer Reading List” or one of many others.  Here is a list of five recently published books you might want to consider reading this summer.  I highly recommend each one.   Missions Disrupted

One of the first Business as Mission companies that I got to know about fifteen years ago was a coffee retail operation in a capital city of west Asia, in the former Soviet Republic.  I learned a vital bit of “how to” as I talked to a team member and then visited the operation.  I

Watch for a new book with a publishing date for next month, July 2022.  The title is MISSIONS DISRUPTED: From Professional Missionaries to Missional Professionals, and it includes missiology, business theory, and 27 stories of missional professionals, mostly businesspeople. Here is a taste of one of the stories, just a summary of something more profound

I have always loved to teach using case studies with a visual medium. In early 1964 Marshall McLuhan famous coined the term, “The medium is the message.”  Most simply stated, he meant that the way content is delivered affects how it is perceived. We at IBEC Ventures believe that the integration of faith and work

Starting a business is both simple and complex.  It is simple in that it essentially must solve a problem or meet the need of a customer who will pay for the solution.  It is complex because it has myriads of components since the “…startup is greater than the sum of its parts; it is an

Memorial Day at the end of May each year signifies a time to remember fallen service men and women in United States wars.  It has its roots in the Civil War, when about 620,000 died in that incredible conflict.  Beginning in 1866, it was called Decoration Day, but gradually a national holiday emerged so people

Nizar and Akram returned to the refugee camp, tired but happy.  They had learned to do woodworking and are part of a team which is building doors and windows, and small handcrafted items to sell in the city where they are refugees.  They are happy because they have a meal to look forward to.  They

Dave Kier is a long-time entrepreneur, business leader and IBEC board member.  He wrote this earlier this year with a focus on a culture of high expectations, and it is Part 2 of two blogs on team culture. Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com Whether we realize it or not, we all

***This is the first of a 2-part series on Company Culture.*** In our last blog related to company culture in July 2021, we defined it as: “…the way of life in a company at its core; it is the way the company operates toward fulfilling the goals and includes the core values and behavior of