Patrick O’Brien, president and CEO of FAITH Catholic and recipient of The Greater Lansing Business Monthly’s Entrepreneurial Award for publishing, accepted his reward with an appropriate acknowledgement. O’Brien says, “Well, I’m Catholic, so we thank God first.”

O’Brien’s strong religious faith started him on the path that eventually led to his profession and the Business Monthly’s recognition of his role as an entrepreneurial visionary.

Originally from Swartz Creek (near Flint), O’Brien earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in advertising design from the Detroit Center for Creative Studies. After graduation, he worked in Chicago with Rhea and Kaiser Advertising and then briefly attended Mundelein Seminary.

An idea for a magazine aimed at Catholics—and with a mission to energize people in their faith lives—has grown from one Lansing publication in 1999 to 18 publications throughout the United States.

When O’Brien brought his concept for this new publication to the Lansing diocese, it was enthusiastically and warmly embraced. It was an idea whose time had come. O’Brien became part of the team that brought his vision to life and began the publication of FAITH Magazine. As demand for the magazine grew outside of the Lansing area, a company was formed to serve Catholic churches in other dioceses. In 2003, FAITH was one magazine that reached 80,000 homes. By 2009, FAITH Catholic was publishing 18 magazines and reaching nearly a million households.

The company named O’Brien the first president and CEO in 2005.

In 2007, O’Brien was also named president and CEO of Liturgical Commission Publishing (LCP), an organization established to offer resources for both parish members and clergy. LCP’s products are used throughout the world as well as in 33 percent of all parishes in the United States.

In 2009, FAITH Magazine, diocesan communications and LCP merged to form FAITH Catholic, for which O’Brien serves as president and CEO.

While all of the magazines are different depending on their location and the needs of the individual dioceses and church members, it all comes to fruition in Lansing where the magazines are put together by the versatile staff of 22, bringing a unique array of expertise to the table. The far-flung editors of the individual publications come together once a year for a two-day conference.

In addition to the yearly conference, O’Brien makes it a point to personally visit with each client bishop and editor at least once a year by traveling to their location. These visits give O’Brien and his off-site partners an opportunity to review goals, objectives and performance to maintain the high level of quality that has come to be expected. In fact, the day after being honored with the Entrepreneurial Award, O’Brien was off to St. Augustine, Florida, on just such a visit.

Besides the 18 magazines published by the company, FAITH Catholic has come to include multiple websites, books, television and more. Since its inception, more than 25.5 million magazines have been delivered to FAITH subscribers and in 2009 alone, customers have read more than 192 million pages that were designed, printed and delivered to their homes in a contemporary, eminently readable magazine featuring individual personal faith stories; columnists whose topics range from theology to cooking; inviting graphic design with high-quality photography; and information about how to link to an engaging website with up-to-date content, video and more.

Also in the product mix are marketing services offered to Catholic organizations, providing a full-service advertising agency experience to these organizations at nonprofit rates.

A five-year strategic plan developed in 2008 is on target to meet the company’s goals, which include bringing three new diocesan publications per year on board as well as bringing a new product to market annually including the production of  digital magazines, the development of stewardship database software for dioceses and other Catholic entities and the development of diocesan websites. And, of course, they intend to maintain the strength of client relationships through strong partnerships.

O’Brien says, “Of course, I couldn’t do any of this without the great staff, the commitment of the board of directors to whom I report or the support of the diocese here in Lansing. Working together with the Catholic church, we have achieved great things.”

In a time when the demise of print media is gloomily predicted and the economic climate is less than ideal, FAITH Catholic is flourishing. O’Brien says, “There is still a great role for the print media to play. It’s proven to be a very effective way of reaching church members and giving them a sense of hope and keen insight into the good work that is being done by the Catholic church, its members and clergy.”