Private Peer Group for Business Leaders Launches in NWA

Eight founding members comprise the recently formed local chapter of Vistage Worldwide Inc., chaired by businessman Terry Bowen.

The group is composed of chief executives, and its monthly group meetings will feature guest speakers and discussion on topics pertinent to individuals in that position.

Bowen said he looks to create a “safe space” for those executives, by enlisting “non-competing members willing to operate in an agenda-free, unbiased and nonjudgmental group.”

“Vistage offers a deep dive into the circumstances, situation and issues that CEOs and business owners all have present in their lives,” Bowen said. “It’s certainly not for everyone, but for those who are serious about improving the quality of their lives personally and professionally, it can be life-changing.”

Bowen said he is assembling an elite group for the board, the membership of which he will cut off at 16. He plans to recruit individuals who have already found success but are still growing.

Although he would not reveal the executives who have already joined the newly formed group, Bowen did say they come from a broad range of industries, including collegiate licensed apparel manufacturing, neuro-surgical monitoring services, financial investment, electronics repair, consumer packaged goods development, commercial construction, airport operations and health professionals staffing services.

In addition to group meetings, members will also have monthly one-to-one sessions with Bowen, who has a wide range of experience as an executive.

For 24 years, he was corporate vice president of the Fortune 500 company Leggett & Platt Inc. in Carthage, Missouri. During that time, he co-founded and led the consumer products unit and was part of “an amazing growth journey” that saw its revenue increase more than 30 percent, reaching $5.5 billion in 2004.

After that, he served in a variety of executive roles and board positions for branding agency Noble Communications Corp. in Springfield, Missouri; Christian apparel company Kerusso Inc. in Berryville; and food supplier 3D Corporate Solutions LLC in Monett, Missouri.

During the past 12 years, Bowen has also been an entrepreneur. He was a founding investor of OakStar Bank in Springfield, Missouri, and he and his wife have owned Sew in Heaven on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Fayetteville for the past 10 years.

As the local chair for Vistage, based in San Diego, Bowen joins 800 other chairs worldwide. There are 21,000 Vistage members in 16 countries, according to the company.