Past Speakers for January-December 2024

JAN 03	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

JAN 10	Peter James,
	Final Expense Advisor, Affordable Senior Solutions LLC
	Affordable Senior Solutions LLC provides advanced planning for burials and cremations and also pre-needs planning as another part of its umbrella. Peter began his career in metro Atlanta in telemarketing after moving from Jamaica in 1992 and did medical equipment sales for Lanier Healthcare/Medquist for 13 years. He migrated to insurance sales in 2008 and also freelanced in marketing and sign store management. Since 2013, Peter has worked exclusively in the insurance industry as an agent with Bankers Life and then with Lincoln Heritage specializing in Final Expense Life Insurance. In 2020, he started Affordable Senior Solutions LLC to cater exlusively to the senior market. Peter has been married to his wife, Josette, for 32 years, and they attend Victory World Church.

JAN 17	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

JAN 24	Bruce Murray,
	Digital Creator for AToH Project
	Bruce has been a freelance graphic designer for twelve years with a wide range of clients from Sony, BET, to Marvel, DC, and several game developers. Before this, he worked in retail for five years.

JAN 31-FEB 07	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

FEB 14	Andrew Schiehr,
	Founder & CEO of Innovative Healthcare (IHC)
	Andrew has over 30 years experience as a healthcare executive with accolades in servicing major national accounts. Andrew served as Regional Vice President for a leading edge national provider of medical equipment for eight years. He then became the Eastern Regional Manager where he was instrumental in the acquisition of a device used for Gyn procedures, pre-FDA approval. He was pivotal in developing an in-office mobile delivery model which resulted in the formation of Innovative Healthcare. To Andrew these initials stand for I Honor Christ. He continues to cultivate relationships with manufacturers to lower capital expenses and provide turnkey systems to physicians' offices from personalized scheduling, experienced mobile clinicians and professional support staff.

FEB 21	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

FEB 28	John Rymer,
	Benefits Agent with Great South Benefits Group
	Great South Benefits Group offers Group Health Insurance for small and medium sized businesses, long term healthcare insurance, and life Insurance. John previously owned Rymer Homes, Inc. which developed residential communities from Dunwoody north to Dahlonega for about twelve years. Prior to Rymer Homes, Inc. John was a chemist with Kraft General Foods and worked in the Food industry for thirty years. He received a B.A. from Berry College majoring in chemistry. John is married with two children and is a published author and song writer.

MAR 06-20	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

MAR 28	Gerald Simmons,
	CEO of Terminals Plus Etc, LLC
	Gerald is the founder of Terminals Plus ETC, a provider of credit card merchant services and point of sales systems based in Alpharetta Georgia, ( https://terminalsplusetc.net ) for the past 20+ years. Prior to that Gerald was with the Sears Roebuck Company for 3 years as an assistant department manager at Gwinnett Mall. Gerald became a born again Christian while serving a 6 year tour in the 1970’s in the military and was stationed in Germany at Leighton Barrack in Wurzberg, Germany. Gerald currently resides in Sugar Hill, Georgia.

APR 03	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

APR 10	Whit Smith,
	Georgia Tech
	Whit has taught electrical engineering at Georgia Tech since receiving a PhD from there in 1990 after time in industry designing commercial broadcast equipment and computer controls. For the last couple of decades, Whit mostly has orchestrated interdisciplinary teams of students in their required group design projects immediately prior to their engineering degree graduations. He met his wife while teaching at Oxford, and they have a daughter who just acquired her driving learner's permit.

APR 17	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

APR 24	Stacy Burton,
	Owner/Broker, Amerirealty
	Stacy has been in the real estate business for over 50 years. Formerly, he was Owner/Broker with RE/MAX Northeast, a real estate company providing mostly residential brokerage and mortgages. A native Atlantan, Stacy taught high school and coached prior to entering the real estate business in 1971. He was the first RE/MAX broker in the state of Georgia. Stacy and his wife, Jeannie, have two daughters and now reside on Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia.

MAY 01	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

MAY 08	Ivan Alfaro,
	Founder & CEO, Common Walk
	Common Walk is an investment firm which Ivan has operated and has transacted over 171 deals since 2007. He started with just one property at the age of 19 while working as a Web Designer. Ivan proceeded to buy multiple properties throughout his twenties and also worked his way up the Corporate Ladder, his last roles being a Senior Web Developer and Technical Manager. By the age of 27, he was able to leave his job due to a $180k equity cash out from just one of his properties. After leaving, he went on to invest in a variety of deals from single family fix-n-flips, land lots, to even warehouses, but finally settling on multi-family. As of today, his investment firm operates 22 rental units. Ivan is married and loves worshipping the Lord with his wife at church.

MAY 15	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

MAY 22	Gary Pernice,
	Executive Manager of Commercial Funding, Platinum Business Group, Ltd.
	Platinum Business Group, Ltd. has funded more than $127 million in mortgages, capital stewardship, and generosity funding since 2004. Gary has four decades of business, mortgage funding, legal, and real estate experience. Having participated in over 200 real estate closings and hundreds of commercial and residential mortgage transactions, Gary brings a wide range of skills and personal relationships to Platinum. Gary served as National Counsel to the National Charity Awards, a nonprofit organization during the George H. W. Bush Administration with the White House in Washington, D.C. Gary currently serves as advisor and senior legal research director to a general practice and litigation firm in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. He is Event Chairman for the CBMC annual Governors’ Prayer Breakfast each September, and was Chairman of the CBMC Atlanta Metro Area Leadership Team from March 2010 to March 2014, representing the Christian Business Men’s Connection (CBMC) to businessmen and women of Georgia.

MAY 29-JUN 05	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

JUN 12	Duane Hamilton,
	Lead Cook, Provino's Restaurant - Buford, GA
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JUN 19	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

JUN 26	Shane Fleeman,
	Owner/Operator, Fresh Harvest Farms
	In 2021, Shane and Audra embarked on a journey to realize their dream of sustainable farming in Dahlonega, Georgia. Their vision was to create an environmentally friendly farm, offering top-quality organic products to their communities. In partnership with Dan and Lauren Draper, Fresh Harvest Farms was born—a vertical farm dedicated to growing gourmet mushrooms and microgreens. With a focus on technological advancements and sustainable practices, they've transformed their dream into a reality, providing year-round crop growth and ensuring consistent quality in every harvest.

JUL 03	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

JUL 10	Jeff Meyer,
	Regional Manager, Provino's Italian Restaurants
	Jeff oversees several locations in the Atlanta area and has been with Provino's for over 40 years. After graduating from high school in 1974, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served with the 82nd Airborne in their Military Police unit. Subsequent to his service in the Army, Jeff spent time searching for direction doing odd jobs which included restaurant work, bartending, and managing a disco. He began his career with Provino's in 1980 as a bartender, working his way up to store manager, then area/regional manager. Since accepting Jesus in 2003, Jeff's focus and purpose has been to serve the Lord and share the Gospel at every opportunity which includes ongoing mission trips to Kenya and serving as a board member of the Hungry4Him Ministries. Jeff has been married to his wife Connie for 42 years and has a son, Derian, daughter in law, Sara, and 7 day old granddaughter Mara! All are believers, Praise God. He plans on traveling back to Kenya in August of this year for his 7th trip.

JUL 17	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

JUL 24	Albin Nistal,
	Service, Sales, Success, and Support Executive
	in the realms of Human Capital Management and Tech/SaaS, supporting all types of industries and verticals. Albin has held various management positions at SMG Builders LLC, Splunk, Gainsight, ADP, and IFS Neutral Maritime. He is a Cuban-American father of 4 daughters, migrating to this country at the age of 5, and migrating to Georgia in 2014. His career spans all avenues of Service, Sales, Success, and Support in the realms of Human Capital Management and Tech/SaaS, supporting all types of industries and verticals. His strengths lies in relationship management, user experience, and loyalty & retention. In 2016, his faith was reinvigorated by many half-steps in Christianity that ultimately led him to a renewed assurance in the Bible.

JUL 31-AUG 07	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

AUG 14	Larry Shrader,
	President of Five Star Properties
	Five Star Properties is a company which owns and operates income investment real estate in the Atlanta metropolitan and north Georgia areas since 1991. Larry has been in the real estate business for more than 30 years. He currently has his real estate license with Virtual Properties Realty and is a member and Co-Chairman Commercial Council for the 400 N Realtor Association. Larry has co-hosted the Norcross Fellowship Luncheon with Heinz Wegener from 1985 through 2022, which is now a Zoom meeting two times each month and a live twice a month. During the past pandemic, he was encouraged to begin a Zoom Virtual Fellowship Gathering in place of the Real Estate Fellowship Breakfast he hosted at Virtual Properties Realty office monthly. VFG is now a weekly meeting. His business background includes ten years in management with JCPenney where he worked part time while in college before going on their Management Training program in his home town, Chattanooga, Tennessee. He accepted a company transfer to Atlanta where he met his wife, Deborah. Larry and Deborah have four grown children and eight grandchildren. His youngest son, Caleb and his wife, Diana have their have another grandchild on the way!

AUG 21	NO MEETING
	No meeting

AUG 28	Heinz Wegener,
	President of Cross Technologies, Inc.,
	, and former Chairman and Executive Vice President of Wegener Corporation, once a publicly traded company and 177th on the Inc. 500. Both companies manufacture satellite communications equipment. Heinz has also held engineering positions at Scientific-Atlanta, Georgia Tech, General Electric, and Magnavox. Heinz and his family immigrated from Germany in 1951, and he has been married to his wife Nan for 57 years. In 1978, he founded Wegener Communications which began in his laundry room and grew to become an international supplier of satellite communications equipment. But even founding a successful company did not bring fulfillment until he invited Jesus Christ into his life as his Lord and Savior. Heinz spun off Cross Technologies, Inc. from Wegener in 1994 to have a private company that could witness boldly for Christ in the marketplace. He has co-hosted the Norcross Fellowship Luncheon with Larry Shrader from 1985 to 2022, now with Jeff Meyer as co-host, which is now a Zoom meeting every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesday and a live only meeting the 2nd and 4th Wednesday. Heinz and Nan have two grown children and five grandchildren.

SEPT 04	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

SEPT 11	Ivan Alfaro,
	Founder & CEO, Common Walk
	Common Walk is an investment firm which Ivan has operated and has transacted over 171 deals since 2007. He started with just one property at the age of 19 while working as a Web Designer. Ivan proceeded to buy multiple properties throughout his twenties and also worked his way up the Corporate Ladder, his last roles being a Senior Web Developer and Technical Manager. By the age of 27, he was able to leave his job due to a $180k equity cash out from just one of his properties. After leaving, he went on to invest in a variety of deals from single family fix-n-flips, land lots, to even warehouses, but finally settling on multi-family. As of today, his investment firm operates 22 rental units. Ivan is married and loves worshipping the Lord with his wife at church.

SEPT 18	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

SEPT 25	Jim Finch,
	Owner of JF Industries, LLC
	Jim has been in the business of refurbishing, reselling and recycling computer equipment since 1981 including at one point owning his own computer business for 18 years. For over 43 years Jim has been helping provide ITAD services to companies that need a safe and reliable way to retire their computer assets. Recently Jim has been ministering in Peru and Panama in churches teaching on Faith and doing conferences for leadership, healing services and men's and women's conferences. Jim also has been involved in ministry to prisons, half way houses, youth groups, and also three day retreat weekends like Tres Dias and Tres Dias Con Cristo in both English and in Spanish. Jim also has a 501-C3 non-profit called Smooth Stone Ministries International where he helps send PC's and notebooks to ministries, schools, orphanages, pastors and people in need all over the world and in the United States.

OCT 02	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

OCT 09	Shawn McNeely,
	Realtor, Virtual Properties Realty
	In his experience as a Cumming real estate professional, Shawn has found that providing the very best service is essentially about putting his clients first. Integrity, in-depth community and market knowledge, marketing savvy, effective negotiation shills and a high quality network are hallmarks of how Shawn works, and he strives to keep himself accessible, being a good listener and responding quickly to his client's needs. Prior to his position with Virtual Properties, Shawn has worked as Territory Account Manager for Corus360, was a Senior Account Manager with ProSys Information Systems, the National Enterprise Account Manager SE for PCM Enterprise, and National Account Manager/Outside Sales for Relational Technology Solutions.

OCT 16-NOV 06	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

NOV 13	Steve Wagner,
	President & CEO, Virtual Properties Realty (VPR)
	Steve and his partner, Karen Burks, co-founded VPR in1999, and under their leadership VPR has consistently expanded, now ranking as Georgia’s top real estate company for both transactions and agent count. VPR’s excellence has been recognized with numerous awards including the “Pacesetter Award” from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the “Pinnacle Award” from the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, and twice recognized as Atlanta’s #1 workplace by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Steve was named “Business Executive of the Year” for the county and is regularly featured in the Atlanta Business Chronicle “Who’s Who” among the top 50 leaders shaping the Atlanta housing industry. He has also received honors as “Atlanta’s 1 CEO for Vision”, “Realtor Manager of the Year”, and “Captain of the Industry”. Steve loves traveling and hiking with his wife and best friend, Ruby, and spending time with his son, Evan, who is also in the housing industry in Destin, Florida.

NOV 20	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

NOV 27	NO MEETING
	Thanksgiving

DEC 04	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

DEC 11	Jim Owings,
	Owner & Operator of several small businesses, including Tune and Software System and Consulting
	Jim has been an Enterprise Solutions provider for years, and his experience ranges from the Fortune 100 to startup companies. Forty plus years of solution sales and implementation experience have allowed him to participate in both growth and dying industries with appropriate solutions and measured results. Jim has worked with companies such as BP, Hilton, Dominos, McDonalds, American Express, Waffle House and Chick-Fil-A. He is a Cum Laude graduate of Georgia Tech where he also was co-captain of the football team in 1973 and captain of the track team in 1973-74. Jim serves on several nonprofit Christian boards including Lord's Way Ministries and OP 89 Sports.

DEC 18	Open Mic
	Testimonies by luncheon attendees.

DEC 25	NO MEETING
	Christmas