Following Biblical Principles, The Joseph Business School Is on a Five-Year Mission to Help 100,000 Entrepreneurs Build Million Dollar Companies

Dr. Deloris Thomas
Dr. Deloris Thomas

Following Biblical Principles, The Joseph Business School Is on a Five-Year Mission to Help 100,000 Entrepreneurs Build Million Dollar Companies 

 Chicago Area School Believes Businesses Will Uplift Underserved Communities Around the World

FOREST PARK, IL – Wharton, Stanford, Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, and Harvard may be renowned for producing future global business leaders. Still, the Joseph Business School (JBS), nestled in this village five miles west of Chicago, is poised to make a significant mark. On Saturday, June 29, 2024, JBS will launch a monumental campaign that will rival the best of what any elite school offers and reshape the global business landscape.

Under the leadership of Dr. Deloris Thomas, an MBA graduate from Harvard School of Business, this unique Christian institution, the brainchild of Dr. Bill Winston, a renowned evangelist, is embarking on a distinctive five-year mission to assist 100,000 entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses to a remarkable $1 million.

The world-class institution, located inside a once-abandoned shopping mall at 7600 Roosevelt Road that also houses a state-of-the-art worship center, a technology hub, an education institution, a business incubator, and a thriving shopping plaza, is commemorating its 25th anniversary this year. As part of the recognition, the school is also kicking off a campaign to raise $25 million to provide full scholarships to all students and entrepreneurs who enter programs to eradicate poverty, close the wealth gap, and turn desolate communities into Gardens of Eden.

School officials will launch the campaign during a 9:00 AM press conference that begins shortly before the school's 10:00 AM graduation for the Class of 2024. The ceremony will celebrate the achievements of 115 students, including 20 who took their courses in Spanish. Over the past 25 years, 2,326 students from five continents have completed the school’s entrepreneurship program. During that span, JBS officials said, the school, in partnership with APEX, helped students obtain more than $1.6 billion in government contracts, and more than 50 graduates became millionaires.

Dr. Thomas said Dr. Winston believes the school can deliver on a grander scale, and his vision is to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses and annihilate poverty.

"When you look at the average small businesses in the USA, the average revenue receipts are very low," Dr. Thomas said. "They are sole proprietorships, producing under $100,000, and cannot afford to hire people. They do not generate enough revenue to make a difference in their communities. With a million-dollar business, they can create jobs and opportunities for others, and their companies can begin to scale. If I were a hair stylist, it would not be just having one shop. It might require having a chain of hair salons where I hire people to help me operate at that level. JBS wants these operators to think of themselves as job creators. We believe in the transformative power of our education to change our students' lives and uplift their communities.”

Named after Joseph, the creative problem solver, innovator, and trader in the Bible, The Joseph Business School was founded in 1999 by Dr. Winston and established by Ray Thomas, and his wife, Dr. Deloris Thomas. Dr. Winston, a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and graduate of what is now Tuskegee University, and Mr. Thomas, who graduated from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, met at IBM. But as they ascended the corporate ladder, they were called into the ministry. As Dr. Winston's ministry grew, so did his vision of expanding the church beyond the sanctuary. To help eradicate poverty and create generational wealth using Biblical and practical principles, JBS was established on the lower east level of the complex. The school is deeply committed to its faith-based education and community development, and it welcomes students committed to this noble mission.

The school's first faculty members and students arrived mainly from the congregation. However, as word spread about the Christian-based business school, so did the support from scholars and successful entrepreneurs who were not affiliated with the church. Today, the faculty includes individuals with top academic credentials and those who created success in business and other industries. Graduates share stories of how their enterprises miraculously grew and became profitable.

In this current graduation class, one student, along with her daughter, a student at Howard University in Washington, raised over $100,000 for an invention they created. Another student from Georgia received more than $200,000 in grants and is awaiting another major grant to help people address mental illness.

One Chicago area student, inspired by his mother's experience at JBS and her journey from the Cabrini Green Housing Complex to financial success, has added 25 condos to his real estate portfolio since enrolling at JBS and now owns a million-dollar home. His mother, who graduated from JBS in 2016, used the education and support from the school to help build a thriving real estate business.

"Her family went from Cabrini Green to a million-dollar home in a Chicagoland suburb in one generation, and that is very touching," said David Ramseur, Dean of the Entrepreneurship Campus Program at JBS. "She praises God for the supernatural speed to get that accomplished."

Dr. Thomas said the Biblical scripture Ezekiel 36:35 best explains Dr. Winston's vision for entrepreneurs transforming the most downtrodden neighborhoods. "And they shall say, "This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities have become fortified and are inhabited." She believes entrepreneurs have the vision; they simply need help.

"I tell my team, we are midwives," Dr. Thomas said. "We bring these babies (businesses) and the visions these entrepreneurs have to make a difference in their communities into full term and to full birth because they do not have anyone to help them nurture and grow their ideas. The Joseph Business School believes entrepreneurialism is a key factor to economic growth, and entrepreneurs' ideas are key factors in any economy becoming a thriving economy. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), small businesses represent over 44% of the US gross domestic product (GDP). When you look at particularly Black and brown communities that are under-resourced and under-financed, you see a great divide as far as wealth, poverty, and violence. Dr. Winston says, “Poverty is not caused due to a lack of resources but rather a lack of self-production.” We believe we can help nurture the gifts evident in these underserved communities and turn them into entrepreneurial ventures whereby they can close the wealth gap in communities, their families, and the world." ###

For information about the Joseph Business School, visit the school’s website at https://www.jbs.edu. To arrange an interview with Dr. Deloris Thomas, contact Jerry Thomas at (312) 804-7999 or jerry@jerrythomaspr.com. Pictures and videos are available.

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