Episode 37: Pocket Change Podcast
How is racecar driving making a difference for the economy in West Tennessee? Join in the conversation with Kel Kearns, Ford Mustang Challenge Series Competitor, as he shares about how professional racing can play a key role in the growth of our community. Be sure to listen to full episode to learn more about the Mustang Challenge, Kel’s racecar, and his experiences working with Ford.
“To get local companies involved in that and people from those companies that may not have been involved in racing before to come along and attend an event and just enjoy the experience,” says Kel. “It's an extracurricular activity, if you will, that pulls people together and that helps us all in business and in life and doing what we're doing moving forward.”
Summary
The Mustang Challenge Series is a racing competition that was established by Ford. Kel Kearns will be competing in this this year’s races, which will be the first time they have been in the United States. Having watched racing from a young age when he lived in Australia, Kel has had a passion for racing and is excited to be a part of this opportunity. He has lived all over the world working for Ford for the past thirty years, and he came to West Tennessee to work on Blue Oval City. Recently, he has transitioned to a new position at Amplify Cell Technologies. An outstanding characteristic that has made Kel appreciate West Tennessee is the welcoming and genuine nature of the people here.
“I've really found that since moving to West Tennessee, there's really been a genuine welcoming, a genuine excitement about the economic development that's happening," says Kel. "Local government has done a really good job to attract different companies. In my case, now I'm involved in two different ones that have come to the region. They create jobs. They create jobs that are technical in nature. Then there's a flow-on effect to the community. It'll bring people in and provide local businesses with growth as well.”
Key Takeaways
- Mustang Challenge Series, presented by Ford, is making its debut in the United States this year.
- Kel Kearns will be racing, and one of his sponsors is Leaders Credit Union.
- Racing can boost our economy by bringing awareness to our businesses and job opportunities to other parts of the country.
- Another benefit to racing is that it brings people outside of their companies to enjoy a fun event together.
Interested to learn more about the Mustang Challenge? Follow the races here.
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Full Transcript
Shea:
Hey, this is Shea.
Carrie:
And this is Carrie.
Shea:
Welcome to the Pocket Change podcast.
Carrie:
Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, and invest, and take control of your financial journey.
Shea:
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engine!
Carrie:
What are you doing?
Shea:
I'm gearing our audience up for our podcast today.
Carrie:
Oh, I see what you did there.
Shea:
You see, we at Leaders Credit Union are committed to our community, the growth and vitality of our community. So we're going to talk to someone. May have to do with racing. About a series that's happening in West Tennessee and throughout the country.
Carrie:
Well, I'm excited to talk to our guest today. We're excited to welcome our guest, Kel Kearns, who will be competing in the inaugural Mustang Challenge Series. Did I get it right, Kel?
Kel Kearns:
That's it. Mustang Challenge Series.
Carrie:
Okay. We're happy to have you here.
Kel Kearns:
It's great to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Carrie:
So can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started in the Mustang Challenge?
Kel Kearns:
Well, as you can probably tell, I'm Australian from the very far south. But I've been racing on and off all my life. That's something that people get really interested in at a young age. I don't play golf, but I race cars. Coming to America, I've been here for a couple of years now. I've been working on the opportunity to race again. And the Mustang Challenge Series was something that's being organized by Ford Performance, and it's the first time it's been run in the US. So I I've been working on it for about a year to put together a team. Compete in the series all across North America. At this point in the Mustang Challenge Series, the first two rounds are complete. So the first one, mid-Ohio in Lexington. It's a challenging first round and then the second one in the iconic Watkins Glen, up in the north of New York state. It's one of those tick-in-the-box places of historical significance for the racing fans. Still three more to go. So after that, Road America, which is another iconic racetrack. And then after that, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, in Texas. It's the Formula One track, and it's also at the same time as America's round of the World Endurance Championship.
So there'll be a lot of very famous global people in terms of GT cars and endurance racing there. And then the final is at Indianapolis. And the Leaders Credit Union team are going to come and join us for that one. So hopefully to share the spraying of champagne for the Mustang Legends series, which I'm competing in.
Shea:
That's what we hope for.
Kel Kearns:
Yeah, looking forward to it.
Carrie:
Wow, that's amazing. So have you always been interested in racing?
Kel Kearns:
Yeah, I think when I was probably about six years old in Australia, the big grand final race of the year is called the Bathurst 1000, and everyone usually spends the day watching that. And as a young kid, it's Ford versus GM. And that's where I became a Ford guy. Ever since then, I've been interested in it and then had the opportunity to get into go karts. And that's where most people start. When they're interested in racing, the progression through go-karts and Formula Ford and Formula 4, Formula 3, Formula 2, Formula 1, where the superstars go and the rest of us who then go off and get a real job and then try to get back into racing, go into other forms.
So I race in GT cars, which is where the Mustang fits in on road course, and been enjoying that for a number of years.
Shea:
So if you're watching on YouTube, Kyla has his racing uniform on, and it's sporting a nice Leaders logo across the front. It looks great, Kel.
Kel Kearns:
Yeah, do you like the colors? So we went purple this year with the electric lightning bolts and our prime sponsor across the front, Leaders Credit Union. So thank you very much.
Shea:
Can you tell us a little bit more about the partnership that we have with the Mustang Challenge series?
Kel Kearns:
Yeah. So racing is something that needs support. So when I set about putting a team together, I set about getting local sponsorship, and Leaders Credit Union came on board. And thank you very much to them for providing the support. So we can see them on the suits and on the car. We chose a purple color for our team this year. We run two cars, and we've got other sponsors that have come on board. Scan Global Logistics is one that's provided the transport. We race all across America in five different rounds, so there's a lot of logistics to take the cars and the teams and all the gear all the way across America, backwards and forwards. We also got some support from other local businesses. YMCA have been very helpful. Agilex Solutions, and local Gene Langley Ford, just down the road from here, has really come on board and been very helpful with us as well.
Shea:
That's great. It's great to hear about the partnerships that have formed through the Mustang Challenge series. We're glad that Leaders and these other companies can partner to bring awareness to West Tennessee all over the nation, just pointing back home to where we're at, so we're glad to be a part of it. We know you've recently transitioned from Ford Blue Oval City, but tell us about your career with Ford and how you built that up here in West Tennessee.
Kel Kearns:
Well, I spent 30 years with Ford. This is my fifth country that I've worked in. More recently, been involved in building and launching new facilities and new plants through India. Then I ran a new plant in China, and I was President and CEO of a joint venture in Thailand for three years, and now moved to West Tennessee. Spent the last two and a half years working on the initial phases of the Blue Oval City site with Ford. Now that that's pivoting to execution phase, the constructions concluded, I've taken the opportunity to move to a startup joint venture company, which is exciting, again, in West Tennessee, called Amplify Cell Technologies. It's a joint venture company with Cummins, Daimler Truck, Paccar, and EV Energy. So I get to stay in West Tennessee and Mississippi and build on those relationships that I've established over the last couple of years.
Shea:
It sounds like you've had the Ford background since you were a kid, being involved and loving the racing and everything. And so it's bringing that full circle around to West Tennessee, and then also going into new ventures here and supporting our economic development in our community. It's great to have you here supporting these ventures.
Kel Kearns:
Well, it all joins together. Racing is a team event, something I'm personally passionate about, but requires a team to execute it. It's something different and exciting. So then to get local companies involved in that and people from those companies that may not have been involved in racing before to come along and attend an event and just enjoy the experience. So it's an extracurricular activity, if you will, that pulls people together and that helps us all in business and in life and doing what we're doing moving forward.
Carrie:
So since you are staying in West Tennessee after living all over the world, what is it that is keeping you here?
Kel Kearns:
That's a really good question. I have been to many different places, and in my line of work, you can build factories and buildings, and you can and get robots and tooling, and you can put those anywhere. But the difference between the places is other people. I've really found that since moving to West Tennessee, there's really been a genuine welcoming, a genuine excitement about the economic development that's happening. Local government has done a really good job to attract different companies. In my case, now I'm involved in two different ones that have come to the region. They create jobs. They create jobs that are technical in nature. Then there's a flow-on effect to the community. It'll bring people in and provide local businesses with growth as well.
Shea:
Yeah, it has a ripple effect because the people that may move in for new positions or a new company, they'll need, like I think we mentioned on another podcast, they'll need maybe a fence when they buy their house or they'll need a veterinarian for their pets. So it has this ripple effect on our community when economic development is happening. So it's exciting to hear about.
Kel Kearns:
There's a multiplying factor of about 25, people say. So if we create 10 new jobs, then it's 250 jobs are impacted in that local area because of the people that have moved in. So that's exciting.
Shea:
Yeah. And so this is a financial podcast, Pocket Change podcast. We like to share some financial tips or advice. So what's some of the best financial advice you've ever been given?
Kel Kearns:
I'll tell you what, about finances, living in five different countries, I have to do five different tax returns. And that's a nightmare.
Shea:
Not just money exchange. You got to deal with taxes and all that.
Kel Kearns:
Yeah, taxes. And everyone has to pay them. But that gives you a bit of an insight into some of the background work that you have to do. But in terms of financial advice, the other thing I'd add, other than taxes, is diversification. If you look back in the time that I've been traveling, there's been global financial crisis, there's been COVID, there have been wars in different countries, and there's been a lot of disruption. And you can't really predict that. So I think out of that, from a financial perspective, then diversification in where you put your money is the advice that I'd give.
Carrie:
That's great advice.
Shea:
And not just in investing, but you can also put some at your local credit union. We can offer that advice to our listeners, too.
Kel Kearns:
Absolutely.
Carrie:
So I have one last question for you, Kel. If you were to find some extra change in your pocket, what would you spend it on?
Kel Kearns:
I really enjoy going out to nice restaurants and having a nice dinner, a glass of wine. Since I've been here, I've seen a growth of additional restaurants popping up once a month or something like that as the As the area is growing again. So too does that part of the business community. And there's some great new restaurants coming up, whether it's downtown Memphis or downtown Jackson. Yeah, I really enjoy going and having a nice meal and having a glass of red.
Carrie:
It sounds good to me.
Shea:
It's supporting local, right?
Kel Kearns:
That's it.
Kel Kearns:
Yeah.
Carrie:
Well, we thank you so much for joining us today on the Pocket Change podcast. Thanks for being here with us, Kel.
Kel Kearns:
Thank you very much for supporting. It was great.
