Lloyd Lewis: arc's CEO makes business personal at his nonprofit.

• Author: Bronikowski, Lynn
• Position: EXECUTIVE edge

WHEN LLOYD LEWIS GOES TO WORK as president and CEO of are 'Thrift Stores, he is inspired every clay by his son, Kennedy, who was born in 2003 with Down Syndrome.

"A lot of parents go through a grieving or a disappointment process; some get angry; some get depressed," Lewis said. "But I fell in love with him from the beginning."

Lewis. who was the chief financial officer of a high-tech company at the time of his son's birth, threw himself into scientific research advocacy, joined the arc of Colorado board or directors and attended a national Down Syndrome convention.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"I decided I really wanted to use my business skills to help people like my son," said Lewis, who joined arc as CFO in May 2005 and became CEO seven months later.

"I love creating jobs, driving growth, creating payroll and improving operations," Lewis said. "Even though we're a nonprofit, we run it like a business because my philosophy is, the more successful we are as a business, the more we can fund our programs."

Arc raises $6.7 million annually for programs that support children and adults with developmental disabilities. That's a 150 percent increase since Lewis took the reins eight years ago and the organization is expected to grow to $8 million next year.

In that time, the company has expanded From 17 to 22 stores, more than doubled employment from 500 to 1,200 and annually processed more than 100 million pounds of donated items. Arc has a million square feet of retail space under lease and operates the largest nonprofit call center in the state.

"Every Friday I tour three or four stores, talk to employees about how the company is doing, the progress we're making and give out recognition buttons for good work," said Lewis, who furnished his entire home with items from arc Thrift Stores at a total cost of $1,500. "I wanted to walk the...