Diversified Conveyors Incorporated

Diversified Conveyors Incorporated - Making headlines the right way…

Reading the headlines these days can be disheartening. CEO’s taking golden parachutes for themselves while leaving red ink and chaos behind.  Investment firms being raided causing honest investors to have their hard earned retirements put in jeopardy. Wall Street firms getting billions of our money only to see much of it go right back out the door for “retention” bonuses being paid to employees that have left the company. There are many tragedies behind these headlines but one of them in my opinion is that these stories are creating a populist backlash against all businesses. This despite the fact that a vast majority of businesses are owned by honest people, run in an honest way and make an honest profit. This month we will focus on a business that tries to do all the aforementioned things but takes it to a level very few do. The business is Diversified Conveyors Incorporated (DCI) and it has a mission statement similar to most businesses but it also has a giving mission statement rarely seen at a business. “To exalt the name of Jesus Christ and to share the love of God in our community and abroad by giving charitably to individuals/organizations who consider Christ central to their mission.”

DCI was formed in 2000 and it designs and manufactures conveyor systems for clients such as UPS and FedEx. Its first year in business, DCI’s sales were $180,000. Last year its sales were over $70,000,000! WOW, what’s their secret! I asked the companies leadership this question and the answer was “because of our mission God is blessing our work.” Ok I thought that’s the public answer what’s the real reason? You can ask it a hundred ways from a hundred angles and you get the same response. You see the mission statement is not meaningless words sitting in a desk drawer. The mission statement is what drives every decision made by the company. When the leadership and employees of a company realize that everyday they are not only in it for themselves but also for the kingdom of Christ a new sense of dedication arises. Speaking of profits DCI gives away a significant portion of its very healthy profit every year. It has a goal of one day being able to give away 50%.

As you might expect DCI does things differently than most companies. How many companies do you know that have a full time missions director and a missions board? DCI, like all companies, looks at the return on investment (ROI) for the money it spends. Unlike other companies, though, DCI also measures the return on the Lords investment (ROLI) for the money it gives away. DCI has been so successful that the giving they do is now in the millions. DCI’s employees also get in the game. Employees are not required to participate in the companies missions work but the ones that want to are allowed input and encouraged to participate. The missions board is very purposeful and intentional about who gets what and how much. First of all, every year they put money aside for emergencies (like Katrina) and to have a reserve fund on hand in case they have a bad year. Generally it works like this, an organization makes a request, the missions director investigates the ministry to make sure it fits the companies mission, he then reports his findings to the missions board and the board prayerfully decides who gets what and how much. Another neat thing the company does is its annual missions banquet. The purpose of the event is to show appreciation to the various ministries DCI helps and for employees to get to know the people they are helping. After the 2006 banquet, a leader of an inner-city organization approached one of the companies leaders and said “For 27 years I’ve been doing this and much of the time I have felt like a beggar. This is the first time anybody has fed me and told me thanks!”

So next time you are getting down about all the greed and corruption you read about don’t despair. For every business doing it the wrong way there are thousands doing it the right way. And out of those thousands there are a few that aspire to do it God’s way!

DCI is located at 3160 Directors Row in Memphis. Their phone number is 396-5370.