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MARKETPLACE MINISTRY

PURPOSEFUL PRODUCTIVITY

Chuck Mitchell’s First Capital Property Group has handled multimillion-dollar real estate transactions, leased millions of square feet of commercial space and acted as a court-appointed receiver for Central Florida commercial properties brought low by the Great Recession. Yet none of this success originated with Mitchell’s grand plan.

After concluding his six-year enlistment in the U.S. Navy, he just needed a job. He found one after connecting with Patrick Morley, the real estate developer whose best-selling book The Man in the Mirror launched Morley’s full-time ministry.

“Can you lease office space?” Morley asked. “Pat, I’m a naval officer,” Mitchell replied. “I can do anything.”“I had no idea what leasing office space was about,” Mitchell recalls. “But he said,

‘Come on in, and we’ll get you interviewed.’”Soon, the former lieutenant had become a leasing agent, which opened the door to

a career in commercial real estate. Later, corporate downsizing created the opportunity to organize First Capital along with a partner. In 2006, Mitchell bought out his partner, who was older and at a different stage of life.

Today, Mitchell is preparing his exit strategy, even though it won’t play out for at least five more years. The father of three wants to pass on more than contracts and holdings, though.

How a real estate broker instills a sense of service in his employees

BY KEN WALKER

ministrytodaymag.com56 MinistryToday January // February 2017

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58 MinistryToday January // February 2017 ministrytodaymag.com

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Granted, Mitchell’s three primary goals include transferring assets, but he also wants to impart wisdom, a prime reason for the leadership development program. This is part of his still-unfolding succession plan.

“The other transfer is a transfer of values,” says Mitchell, who serves as an elder and home group leader in his church. “The stewardship that God’s given me for this company, and the responsibility I have for the families of our 22 employees, to a certain extent, this is my congregation. I have to be Christ to them in multiple ways.”

Transferring WisdomAs the sole shareholder in his company,

Mitchell has enjoyed the benefits of profit-ability throughout First Capital’s history—though not just to enrich himself. He has blessed many ministries, sponsored mis-sionaries and given to his church.

While it’s good to be able to support worthwhile causes, what really puts a smile on Mitchell’s face is the opportu-nity to train younger businessmen to take his place.

“That’s been one of my goals all along: How can I duplicate myself?” Mitchell says. “To a certain extent, this [plan]

isn’t related to transferring my business assets. It’s about transferring wisdom and values.”

One of the beneficiaries of such a men-toring relationship is First Capital’s vice president, Trent Scott. A former intern, Scott joined the company fresh out of college and learned the industry from the ground up.

“Other than a couple of classes at school, I didn’t know anything about real estate,” Scott says. “Chuck has been exceptionally open throughout the pro-cess, both from the angle of what it means to be the owner of a company [and] the specific points of making a deal and how to negotiate.”

During the last decade, Scott has closely observed real estate’s interactions and relationships. He sees that experience as invaluable since this service-oriented busi-ness focuses on pleasing others, whether property owners, tenants or co-workers. That’s why it’s been so helpful to observe his boss in meetings, follow his email trails and exchange insights regularly over lunch.

Mitchell has always been open to hearing Scott’s thoughts and ideas.

“Every time we had a meeting with somebody, he asked, ‘What were your biggest takeaways? How do you think we could have done that pitch differently? What were the good and bad points?’” Scott says. “Being open and intentional about dialogue where there were teach-able moments—that continues now,” Scott adds. “We still talk nearly every day about some topic outside of the technical, day-to-day stuff.”

A third aspect of Mitchell’s stewardship involves ministering to his associates and their families, including sharing the gospel or reading the Christmas story at the com-pany’s annual family dinner in December.

To emphasize that First Capital’s mis-sion is, ultimately, serving the Lord—as Mitchell reminds his employees at the Christmas dinner—the company is pres-ently modifying its mission statement to bring stewardship to the fore.

“We take care of things they don’t want to mess with,” the company president says. “We collect the rent, administer the leases, pay the vendors and send them their check. We are stewards of other people’s assets.”

Chuck Mitchell served as a court-appointed receiver for The Village at Hunter’s Creek in Orlando, Florida, and now his firm leases and manages the center for the new owner.

Mitchell, second from right, and sales and leasing colleagues, from left, Dan Van Nada, Nick Augello and Jean-Paul Beaulieu, were recognized at an “Orlando Business Journal” function.

60 MinistryToday January // February 2017 ministrytodaymag.com

Meeting NeedsFormer CPA Randy Harrod, a

managing chair with the C12 Group, a national organization that supports CEOs through peer advisory groups and one-on-one coaching, is among those who have helped Mitchell prepare a suc-cession plan for his company.

Succession planning for owners is a process, not an event, Harrod says. Part of what Harrod has watched unfold in the past year is Mitchell identifying the need for determining what happens to his company in the future.

“Chuck has grabbed hold of the fact that it’s intentional in how we think about mis-sion, vision and core values,” Harrod says. “He’s formed a ministry committee and assigned it a budget.”

The goal of the company’s ministry com-mittee is to get more employees reflecting on questions about the ministry God has called them to and help them discern how they can help meet needs in the community and the company. Mitchell doesn’t want the ministry aspect of his company to fade when he leaves.

“Chuck is concerned about his employees,” Harrod says. “It’s not only being passionate about their job. He wants to create an environment where everyone

is working together as a great team and is passionate about what they do.”

This attention to detail attracted the attention of attorney Tim Schulte, who first encountered Mitchell when they were on opposite sides of a lawsuit. Later, when he needed a receiver to oversee a client’s bankruptcy, Schulte called Mitchell.

The attorney has since used Mitchell several times, including for a manufac-turer with multiple business interests that ultimately survived Chapter 11.

“In real estate, there are guys who are salesmen and others who are managers,” Schulte says. “A lot of sales guys will tell you they can [manage a property], but in their mind, it means they’re going to make a deal. In receivership, you’re trying to preserve assets until the court decides what to do with them. I have to have some I can trust to manage the property in a cost-effective way.”

Handling PressureAmong the numerous deals Mitchell

has handled was last year’s purchase of a new headquarters building for Man in the Mirror in suburban Orlando.

David Delk, former CEO and current board member of Man in the Mirror,

says the broker has been invaluable through negotiating leases and offering input on other matters, too. Not only is Mitchell humble, but he is also realistic and faithful, Delk says.

“He doesn’t necessarily have the sort of grandiose ego or vision of who he is,” Delk says. “Chuck is a steady, faithful, do-the-task-in-front-of-you guy. Having the largest company in Orlando wouldn’t even be on his radar.”

Delk, who is joining a church staff in South Carolina, has benefited from their association on a personal level through Mitchell’s insights on family and other issues.

“I see him as such a consistent person,” Delk says. “You see that in relationships with folks he cares about as friends and people in his church. He’s about more than dollars in the door. He’s also about being engaged with people, blessing them and seeing them advance in their career.”

Mitchell’s humility surfaces in a discussion of how his faith helps him handle industry pressures and responsi-bilities. He deflects credit to the “smart people and investors” who help him meet those challenges.

Mitchell often seeks counsel from associates, but he believes it is most important to ask God for wisdom.

“I serve a purposeful God,” Mitchell says. “He has allowed me to be in this position, not for my purposes but His. He loves us and is going to look after the greater good of those who love Him.”

With years still ahead of him, it’s too early to write Mitchell’s business epi-taph. But he knows how he wants to be remembered since he’s already written his obituary and given it to his wife, Pam.

Mitchell chokes up and takes a while to finish his thoughts as he talks about his current goal.

“I want to be remembered as a person who loved his kids, loved his grandkids, mentored young couples and men, and served his church,” Mitchell says. “But I also want to be remembered as a man who ran the race and finished strong.”

K e n W a l K e r is a freelance writer and book editor from Huntington, West Virginia. He has written several features on Christian business leaders for Ministry Today.

“I serve a purposeful God. He has allowed me to be in this position, not for my purposes but His.”—Chuck Mitchell

Leased by First Capital, this Central Florida plaza draws significant customer traffic.