12th Annual Leadership Summit: March 21

Ian Watts is an accomplished author, speaker, and expert on employee retention, helping executives reduce turnover by over 50% in 12 months or less through his proven ACTS Method of Engagement. With two decades of experience as a business coach, Ian has built HR systems that scaled staffing from 6 to 60 locations nationwide, successfully recruiting over 400 team members with minimal turnover.

 As the founder of SB Dream Coach and The Employee Retention Group, Ian has transformed leaders in over 30 industries across 40+ states and globally in countries like China, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. He has shared stages with renowned speakers such as ET, the Hip Hop Preacher, and Coach Stormy Wellington, and has been featured on FOX News (Detroit), Equipped with Chris Brooks, and the Business Breakthrough Podcast.

 A Bachelor of Business Administration graduate, Ian is also a servant-leader, having served in ministry for over a decade, including leading EMERG (Evangel Ministries Economic Restoration Group). His mission is to “Build Businesses that Bless the World.”

Chase currently works with Campus Outreach, a campus ministry that focuses on explaining the basics of the Christian faith to college students and equipping them to be leaders and influencers in the world during college and after graduation. Chase serves as the director of this ministry in Kalamazoo and has the privilege of leading a team of 5 other staff people and manges partner relationships. In this role Chase spends most of his time investing in students who are involved with fraternities and sororities by doing leadership and character development training, faith discussions, and one on one mentoring. In addition to these activities he leads various development events that focus on building leadership skills and preparing students for success after graduation. Because of his passion to develop leaders to influence the world, Chase has devoted a considerable amount of time and energy learning about our culture and how to develop leaders in this generation that will influence our communities and workplaces for good. Chase is originally from Illinois but moved to Michigan in 2021 to start this ministry at WMU with his Wife Jessica. They have been married for almost 7 years and have 3 children (Bennett 2, Jaclyn and Jordyn 1).

John is dedicated to helping people succeed, which means becoming what God created you to be. His career has combined ministry and business since college days. John started as a peer minister in a campus fellowship at Central Michigan University. Seminary followed with 6 years as a United Methodist pastor. During college and grad school he operated remodeling and painting businesses. Since 2007 John and his wife Julie have been on staff at Stones Church in Kalamazoo as Family Care Pastors.

1998 saw an opportunity to begin a career in financial services. Starting as a solo entrepreneur, John added staff and partners. Over a 22-year career he founded three Registered Investment Advisors and led the firm’s mergers and acquisitions efforts. When he sold his interest, the firm managed about $1.25 billion of client assets and comprised about 60 total staff including 15 partners.

After a short sabbatical, he started C12 forums in Kalamazoo and South Bend. C12 combines the very best business fundamentals with Christian peers and a focus on eternal outcomes. This means C12 provides an incredible opportunity to help business leaders drive great economic results and transform their businesses into businesses as ministries.

In 2025 John will release Thinking for Success, a book of 52 short stories which help people become more productive, solve problems and improve relationships.

John and Julie have four children and share a passion for bicycling, climbing rocks, and travel.

David Nemmers is the former President/CEO of Midstate Security Company, a nationally recognized top 50 security integrator company. He purchased the company in June of 2007 and built and executed a strategy that has produced exceptional results for both the customer base and the organization with twelve consecutive years of growth.

In August of 2019, he sold his business to Allied Universal Technologies from Irvine, California.  Allied Universal Technologies is the largest security company in the world and has over $18 billion in sales with approximately 800,000 employees (the 7^th largest employer in the world).

David’s greatest strengths are culture development, team building with alignment of goals, and leadership. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach that are consistent with the companies’ values of integrity, innovation, and impact.

Prior to purchasing Midstate Security Company, David held executive and/or strategic roles with companies such as Turnstone (a division of Steelcase), Gill Industries, Porter Hills Village, S2 Yachts, Advanced Packaging, and Great Lakes Computer. He started his career at the public accounting firm of Ernst & Young.

As a 1984 graduate of Aquinas College, David has utilized his bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting, and a minor in information technologies, in every position he has held.

David also serves on several for-profit and not-for-profit boards. He is also a past vice-president of the Caledonia Community School Board, serving four and a half years as a board member.

He lives in Caledonia, Michigan along with his wife, Susan. They have two daughters and ten years ago assumed guardianship of two nieces and a nephew. In his free time, David is an avid runner, completing numerous road races including nineteen marathons; one of which was across the Grand Canyon (including an ultra-marathon by accident because he lost count of the miles).