Joel's father was a veterinarian, business man, farmer and philosopher. Some of Joel's first work experience came through Dr. Clark. As many farm children Joel was operating farm equipment from early grade school years as well as working with microbiology, surgery and pharmacology in the veterinary practice.
His mother Dr. Mary Jo Clark an educator serving in school administration and later teaching at the University of Foreign Trade in Shanghai.
Working with Verdigris Valley Farms Joel was involved with all facets of the agriculture business. In addition to production, his experiences included wholesale, operating retail outlets as well as door to door sales.
Nearing the end of 6th grade Joel envisioned producing organic* cucumbers for sale. He located a buyer. negotiated for the land, seed & equipment then plowed, planted and nurtured. It was then he realized he had a small problem. Labor and Transportation.
Harvesting was difficult work without the special equipment. Having no drivers license he had to negotiate transport. Atkins Pickle Company would buy all he could deliver but "delivery" proved to be most difficult.
He tried a percentage deal with "dad", hiring dad's secretary, her boyfriend, and even a transient from the Chicago area. He set up a commission structure with his older brother and his friend (who had a license and a car) but it was still inadequate.
Although Joel gained some valuable experience and probably made more money than a lot of 7th graders that summer, most of the crop was lost.
Coming from a long line of teachers. His mother, grandmother, great grandmother as well as some aunts and uncles were educators. It is understandable that school didn't agree with him, or he with it whichever the case.
After trouble in Jr. High and High School, at age 15 Joel spoke with the local College President about taking classes at the college. By 17 he was graduating.
Joel spent the next several years working in the automotive industry, achieving some of the highest levels of training and certification in his field.
He had always been involved with small business ventures, adult education and other activities so in 1998, tired and unfulfilled, he made a decision to start his own business.
Having had always enjoyed learning, been a regular patron of the public libraries. His personal collection included thousands of books, computer based training, audios and seminars he was a thinker.
After watching an infomercial (one of several) he was drawn to a seminar (one of several). The subject, "discount buying". He laid down his money got a plane ticket and went to "training".
Although the instructors were well versed, these groups make their living as "broker mills" making handsome livings saturating the market with "cash flow brokers" or as they are called now "cash flow consultants".
Realizing that the information given was grossly inadequate and somewhat misleading, he made arrangements to seek further training. Still unfulfilled He started making calls to see who had the information he needed. Before he was finished he had made connections and collected a database of factors, note buyers, investors and related financiers that rivaled anyone or any single business directory anywhere.
Besides gaining intimate knowledge of the industry, Joel's database soon included funders from Noteworthy, The Paper Source, Discount Buyers Association, American Cash Flow Association, Commercial Finance Association, International Factoring Association, Factors Chain International as well as independent sources.
He attended conferences and collected books and tapes until he was satisfied that he had more "resources" than any competitor.. and he did. At this point he began to finance a few transactions personally.
As their two daughters were starting their own lives, Joel and his wife became more involved as volunteers with a local mission. It seemed to have lost support due to derision within the local church alliance and within the board. The homeless shelter was to be reopened they were purchasing a new distribution center building but did not have the income to cover the expenses.
After several months of work & allowing the homeless to fill the voids left by churches and volunteers they had created a substantial positive cash flow. This allowed them to upgrade, repair and had sufficient resources to help a forming local support group, support a new dental clinic and in the process of creating substantial transitional housing.
A library/resource center was added to the shelter and systems were put into place to create a more stable transition to the workforce. Clients were offered volunteer and work opportunities that proved to be much more effective than originally anticipated.
Joel's two wonderful daughters were married and recently blessed him with two beautiful grand children, Alaya and Zachary.
Business Development, Alternative Finance, Organization, Trouble shooting, Web Design, Office Applications, Interviewing, Mechanical & Electrical Diagnostics, Non-profits
Better Business Bureau
SCORE
Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce
Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce
Organic: Joel himself never used commercial fertilizers or pesticides at any time. There is however a condition of years prior for the land to be listed or marketed as "organic"
Always looking for a variety of experiences Joel loves to read, learn and travel.