Upstate South CarolinaChristian peer advisory groups

Grant Edwards

Grant’s business leadership experience includes operating a successful specialty retail business for 20+ years. This business served three distinct consumer sectors and gave Grant experience in company operations, client acquisition, inventory control, personnel management, and profit maximization. He also gained a special understanding of the interaction between personal and professional responsibilities and the importance for business owners to balance them. Grant also brings extensive experience in residential real estate sales and investments, and currently holds an active real estate license. Finally, he has had experience in mergers and acquisitions through a brief stint with an M&A firm in Houston, Texas, which focused on mid-sized industrial companies. Grant has been happily married for 35 years and is the father of three wonderful adult children. He has known the Lord since childhood and has been active as a church elder, Bible teacher, counselor, and active board member of Aletheia Springs Christian Education Center (VA). Grant earned a BS degree from the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina in 1982, an MBA from North Greenville University in 2011, and a doctorate of Business Administration from Walden University in 2016. His experience as an entrepreneur, coupled with years of experience in ministry and education, enables him to be both an encourager and supporter of business owners as they operate their businesses for Christ. He currently resides in Greer, SC with his wife Debbie.

Joe Patrick

As an accomplished leader and business executive, Joe is passionate about helping companies achieve purpose-driven, sustainable success through improved strategies, market development and operational excellence. Joe first discovered and grew this passion in his own family’s brick company (Southern Brick Company) before participating in its sale. He then honed a broad range of skills working from 1996-2011 with a stellar international brand & multibillion-dollar private company (VELUX). Joe successfully brought development stage technology for electronically tinting glass to the unit skylight market with exclusive rights in 6 countries, and contributed to the analysis and integrations of 3 acquisitions. His time with VELUX also included a life-changing year in Copenhagen, Denmark, working as the first American expatriate with a group overseeing companies in Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Joe was Vice President: Operations at OOBE Uniforms & Apparel, Inc., a provider of retail and custom apparel for brands including Chick-fil-A, Hendrick Automotive Group, and BMW Manufacturing. He has been successful with P & L accountability and oversight of numerous departments and leadership of cross-functional teams on projects of high strategic importance. He has also helped start, fund or advise several companies with family and friends along the way. He is currently a Director on the Board of Fortis Riders and a founding partner of Wilderness Capital LLC. After Joe graduated from Erskine College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, he earned his MBA from Clemson University with concentrations in marketing and finance. His post-graduate business education also includes completion of The Moore School of Business at USC Mid-Level Management Program, as well as a customized International Management Program from MANNAZ for high potential VELUX managers conducted outside Paris, France by leading international business school professors. Joe finds deep satisfaction in serving others in his community. He presently serves as Secretary of the Board for the American Red Cross Palmetto Region in the Upstate of South Carolina and mentors through Mentor Upstate. He lives in Greenville with his wife, Emily, and three children. He is an ordained ruling elder at Greenville Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church and served as Session Vice Moderator. He has previously been a member of the Erskine College & Seminary Board of Trustees, where he also served as its Chairman.