A former executive who left a successful career in the corporate world to answer the call of ministry now is using both his pastoral and business skills to help revitalize economically depressed areas by training entrepreneurs at the faith-based Joseph Center in Forest Park.

Pastor William S. Winston is putting his faith in the area population’s desire for economic stability and opportunity with the creation of the Joseph Center.

At times, he speaks like a preacher, using biblical tones and analogies when referring to the surrounding population of Forest Park as being under “economic bondage.” He envisions Christian entrepreneurs entering the community, who will in turn work in an ethical and virtuous manner for themselves and society.

And even though he does not come off as a fire-and-brimstone, old-time reverend pontificating on the coming rapture, he does predict economic doom for the nation in the not too distant future.

The Joseph Center’s name is itself a reference to the Bible. Joseph rose out of slavery to become second in power to the Pharaoh of Egypt, where he was in control of most of the empire’s government and business. Winston hopes that his students will rise out of their own bondage to become influential entrepreneurs in the area.

“Our mission is to create Christian entrepreneurs, who will in turn create income and jobs,” said Winston. “We want to empower the individual. It is in our nation’s best interest to bring up more entrepreneurs.”

The Joseph Center is a multi-faceted organization that grew out of the Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, a 15,000-member church led by Winston.

The 700,000-square-foot Center—a former strip mall that still has a number of retail stores and enterprises brought in by Winston—is home to the Joseph Business School, the Joseph Center Business Incubator and Joseph Center Housing Services.

The site is also the location of a Small Business Development Center operated jointly by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the U.S. Small Business Administration; it is the only faith-based SBDC in the country.

Winston came to the Chicago area because he said that “the Lord led me here” and because he saw a looming economic disparity in the Chicago area.

“In 2002 I did some number crunching and I found that the Chicago area had business revenue of roughly $144 billion annually,” he said. “The African-American percentage of that was 1.2 percent. That really got my attention, because in the population mix, the African-American community is 40 percent.”

The Joseph Center was founded in 2000 and immediately established an area incubator for budding entrepreneurs to come and nurture their businesses at a low cost.

“The idea of the incubator was to provide reasons to those wanting to start their own business,” said Winston. “In this area people have lower expectations. They need consulting. A lot of people in the area want to start their own business, but they do not have the resources.”

The incubator offers on-site consulting through the SBDC and supplies high-quality offices, work stations and conference spaces at a fraction of the cost that other facilities would.

“Our goal is not to undercut competition, but we want to provide these offices so entrepreneurs can save on expenses and put more toward their bottom line,” he said.

The offices are available for entrepreneurs for a 24-month period, the fledging stages of their businesses, after which they are encouraged to seek opportunities elsewhere and free up the space for more potential entrepreneurs, said Winston.

The Joseph Business School curriculum is a nine-month program that consists of three terms at a total cost of $2,625. Classes are held on Saturdays, allowing for students to also work. The last enrollment class size was 75.

Students take classes ranging from “Christ and the Corporation” and “Life as a Christian Entrepreneur” to “Global Markets” and “Pricing Strategy.” All classes are taught by members of the Living Word congregation who have obtained master’s degrees in business fields, said Winston.

The classes revolve around “Biblically-based” teachings and use specific moments and actions in the Bible to highlight the lessons.

“The book of Proverbs is really a whole teaching on the functions of an organization,” said Winston. “It literally translates from Hebrew into ‘organization.’”

Students receive a certificate upon completion, but perhaps the most important thing they walk away with is a working business plan, as it is a requirement of the program, said Winston.

Winston hopes to not only produce new entrepreneurs, but those with proper business philosophy based on their Christian education.

“We are looking at what I call the kingdom model,” said Winston. “I believe that if you work with the principles taught in the Bible you will be successful. You have to bring ethics into the equation. You should not try and make a profit off of someone just because you can.”

However, Winston is hoping that these entrepreneurs will make enough profit to filter more wealth into the surrounding community by providing more jobs as their businesses grow.

And while Winston sees a bright future for his entrepreneurs, he is wary about the future economic fortunes of the nation.

“I don’t just fear an economic disaster. I anticipate one,” he said. “And if it is going to rain, I want an umbrella.”

Winston does not have much faith in the government, as he sees budget spending as out of control and believes the dollar will eventually suffer because of it.

He cites some of Karl Marx’s philosophies as to why democracy and capitalism may falter.

“You can’t keep spending what you don’t have,” he said. “Marx thought this was inevitable in a democracy. Eventually, we will bankrupt the system.”

To that end, he formed a relationship with the Great Lakes Monetary Consultants, LLC, in Forest Park. He encourages his entrepreneurs to invest a substantial portion of their money in gold, silver and other precious metals, because if the current economic system falters, they will be insured as precious metals retain their value regardless of economic situations.

Winston’s project may seem ambitious on its current scale, with 150 employees, 15,000 church-goers, and a large facility in the suburbs, but in Winston’s big picture, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We are expanding this model to Kansas, Texas, Florida and New York,” he said. “Eventually we will be global with locations in South Africa, Haiti and Panama.”

The facilities will all be under the Joseph Center name and will attempt to reach the same level of accreditations that it has, mainly through a relationship with business development agencies, because in Winston’s eyes that “legitimizes the organization.”

To do this the center established the New Covenant Community Development Corporation, a non-profit development company. The designation allows for the group to apply for contracts which it otherwise could not get. The NCCDC has already put in plans to develop a center similar to the Forest Park location in Winston’s hometown of Tuskegee, Ala.

“This (Forest Park) is the prototype,” he said. “We want to go to other locations where we can bring up businesses, create wealth and then send it back into the neighborhoods that need it.”