Jones is the Director of Business and Industry Engagement and Advanced Manufacturing Council. Her job is to ensure that their investors have the resources they need to plant roots in Memphis and stay. For Jones, she knows that relationships are key to economic development and in the workforce industry.
Memphis has a significant manufacturing community, with over 1,270 manufacturing companies in the area. Some products that are made in Memphis you might be familiar with are:
"...this is a pathway that we used to call an alternative career pathway. But it's not, it's a career pathway," said Jones.
The council and Jones provide connections for students to the manufacturers by scheduling tours of their factories. This gives them the opportunity to have an immersive experience seeing firsthand what the environment is like and if it's something they would be interested in when they graduate in the future.
"Students can't be what they can't see..." said Jones.
They also provide meetings with HR representatives from different manufacturing companies to meet with the students and share what essential things they need to have for a career.
Keeping the workforce safe and engaged is important for the success of manufacturing in Memphis. Some of the ways the Memphis Chamber supports these companies are by having the FBI come to educate about cybersecurity and AI, police and firefighters provide free site safety assessments, and they connect them with childcare opportunities through TOOTRise.
Also, by educating youth about workforce opportunities, they're letting them know about jobs in the workforce, which is encouraging a newer, younger generation to come in as older generations retire.
The Uniquely Abled Program is for those in the workforce who have autism. This program allows them to have a special, inclusive place in manufacturing where they can work and be involved in the community.
The Second Chance Program is for adults who have not finished high school or were involved with the justice system. It gives them the opportunity to have a job and not be forgotten.
Saving and planning are essential. For Jones, not saving and planning means it won't happen, so you need to be diligent with being active to work towards those goals together.
To learn more about the Greater Memphis Chamber, visit memphischamber.com.
The Pocket Change Podcast is presented by Leaders Credit Union. To learn more about Leaders, visit leaderscu.com.
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:
All right, we got records. We got rice. Really good barbecue. What do all these things have in common.
Carrie:
I think it might be the big city of Memphis.
Shea:
They're all made in Memphis, Tennessee. Records. Rice. A ton of things are manufactured right here in Memphis that people don't even know about.
Carrie:
Also, it's Manufacturing Month. Did you know that?
Shea:
That's right. Yeah. And so, we'll be talking about how students are getting exposed to manufacturing in the Greater Memphis area and why it's so important to support, you know, this economic driver in our community.
Carrie:
That's right. And all the different brands that are being made there in Memphis, too. It's amazing.
We’re excited to welcome our guest, Jeanette Jones, with the Greater Memphis Chamber today. Welcome to Pocket Change, Jeanette.
Jeanette Jones:
Thank you. I'm happy to be here.
Carrie:
Yeah. So, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got to your current role? If you don't mind explaining what your current role is too?
Jeanette Jones:
I'm Jeanette Jones, I'm the Director of Business and Industry Engagement, and I lead our Advanced Manufacturing Council. It's a mouthful. Ultimately, it means I want to make sure that our investors have what they need to stay and grow in Memphis, and that means to work in a lot of different spaces and places. Primarily on the business engagement side, I meet with companies every day and talk to them about workforce. Prior to that, I was on the economic development side, and it was to help companies to grow and expand in Memphis. Companies cannot grow and expand in Memphis without workforce. So, everything has kind of come full circle. I've been at the chamber seven and a half years. Before the chamber. I sold television advertising for 27 years.
Carrie:
Wow.
Jeanette Jones:
So, it's my second career. It has made me have a really deep appreciation for Memphis and the work that we do. Economic development and workforce and manufacturing are key components to what we do in Memphis. And a lot of people don't know that.
Carrie:
Yes. And you have quite the vital role in that area as well. So, very important role that you have.
Jeanette Jones:
Yes, it has come, it came about a grant that we had called Upskill Mid-South that we're actually reengaging with. And my side of the grant was to work on the manufacturing sector. So, I was given a list and said, hey, contact these manufacturers, let's have a monthly meeting and let's see how we can help them. Well, that's a heavy lift, because you can't just contact the manufacturer and think they're going to open the door. They will not open the door. They will not call you back. So, what I had to do was start with President’s Island, and I started calling and going by and building relationships. Ultimately, everything is about a relationship. People by people. If you don't trust me or you don't believe what I have to say, or you don't see the value proposition in my offering, you will not take my call. But fortunately, I was able to kind of kick that door down. And we're now three and a half years in. We have a great group of manufacturers that trust us, that come to the meetings that offer thought partnership, and, you know, we take it from there. The meetings are employer led, which means they don't want to hear or see me talking, they want to hear from each other. They've learned that working together to help fill these gaps is really important. We have manufacturers. They tell us what they need to help their companies to stay and grow in Memphis. And they need workforce. They need welders. They need our education partners. They need STEM talk. There are a lot of different needs in this space. They need safety. They need security. They need, you know, cyber experts. They need AI experts. So, it's a lot in that space. So, we're just peeling back the layers of the onion one meeting at a time.
Shea:
Well and Memphis is a logistics hub, a manufacturing hub. I mean there's so much happening and you're able to see into a little bit of all of that, I think. So. What makes you so passionate about manufacturing and really educating the workforce that's coming up to fill these positions?
Jeanette Jones:
You know, this this is a space that I never thought that I would be in, but I've learned to enjoy it just because I see. I never thought Memphis was a big manufacturing community, but it is. We have about 1270 manufacturers in our region. That's a lot. People don't know what's made in Memphis. And I, let me just get into what's made in Memphis.
Shea:
Yeah, we wanna know!
Jeanette Jones:
Memphis makes all of the 3D glasses that are made in the United States are made right here in Memphis. We make all of the Wesson Oil, where if you've ever fried anything, it's made right here in Memphis. We make all of the rice, Riviana rice, right in South Memphis. All of those things are made in Memphis, and people just don't know it. And I'm, that's just naming a couple of the things that - we make all of the vinyl records, that are made in Memphis. So, Memphis is a manufacturing hub that people just, you don't just think about Memphis as a manufacturing place, you think of places like Ohio and you know, you know, like Gary, Indiana used to be a big steel mill town. And, you know, those places. But Memphis is a strong, has a strong manufacturing community, and it pays really good. So, to get to the workforce side of it, this is a pathway that we used to call an alternative career pathway. But it's not, it's a career pathway.
Shea:
It is, yeah.
Jeanette Jones:
We understand that every student is not a four-year college student. So, we don't want to put that pressure on them. What we do want them to learn is the basics of STEM. If you can learn the basics of STEM, you can go to any manufacturing company and make really good money. IFF, which is International Flavors and Fragrances, formerly DuPont, they start at $29.32 an hour right out of high school. If you can read a ruler or read a tape measure, you can get hired there. We have those connections. Jason Wright is the Director of Operations. He's a big part of our manufacturing council. I lean on him a lot for thought partnership, so we want to make sure that they can connect with our high schools and our community colleges and our four-year universities. So, it starts right there. So, there are a lot of different components to that, but we're doing our part to try to make Memphis greater.
Carrie:
That's amazing. Well, you took the words out of my mouth. I was going to ask you about if there are any brands. Are there any other top name brands that we might recognize that you haven't mentioned already?
Jeanette Jones:
xAI, the world's largest supercomputer, is made right in Memphis.
Shea:
Yeah.
Jeanette Jones:
Hyosung HICO, they make the world's largest transformer. It's made right in Memphis. Ace Pumps. We manufacture pumps, and American Marsh Pumps. They are actually going to be our host organization for Manufacturing Month. So, there's a lot. Morgan Steel. We have, you know, multiple steel manufacturers in Memphis. Nucor Steel. So, there's a lot that's made in Memphis that just people just don't know. I mean, these we make all of the packaging for Skittles and Pepperidge Farm made right here in Memphis. We make the tops, the top part of the container and the bottom part of the container for Pringles chips, right in Memphis. Sonoco manufacturers that product. So, there's a lot that's made in Memphis that most people don't know. And if we were not telling our story, I don't think this story would be told.
Carrie:
Right. So much going on in Memphis, going on in Memphis.
Jeanette Jones:
There’s a lot going on in Memphis.
Shea:
And they ship those Pringles containers over here to Jackson because they make the Pringles chips here in Jackson. It's all connected in this region. And so, it's amazing what all is just being put together here in this, in this area. So how do you and the council connect students to these jobs and employers in Memphis?
Jeanette Jones:
I'm so glad you asked that question. So, I talk about this all the time and Shea hears this a lot. Students can't be what they can't see, number one. So, we've taken on an adventure that we never thought we would get in by hosting tours. We get with the company. They host tours for the students. So, it's important for students to see the inside of a company, a manufacturer, to understand that it's not the old dusty warehouse that it used to be. A couple of things that I didn't mention that we manufacture: medical devices, Stryker. We make hospital beds, we make the headlamp that goes on the doctor's helmet. We make, all of this is manufactured in Memphis. We have a Hershey's in Memphis. Hershey's opened their doors to students, and he said he wanted it to be an experience like Charlie… Charlie…
Carrie:
And the Chocolate Factory?
Jeanette Jones:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! So, it was such a fun time and such a great experience. And the, you know, the students and the educators were, they were really excited. So, our goal is to educate the educators as well, because we know that educators may, you know, you may see a thousand students in one day. And if you can share with them that experience, that goes a long way. But as far as the students, our job is to make sure that we can introduce them to these career pathways by taking them inside of a manufacturing plant so they can get a chance to see. It's not the old, dusty warehouse of old. Most of these places are climate controlled. They're really clean. And it gives them an opportunity to see people that look like them on the floor, that's working in the manufacturing plant, that's working in the front office, that's working in HR. And they get a chance and they come and talk to them. So, before we have a tour, there's always a meeting before the meeting, and we talk to them about the experience. What type of experience do you want the students to get? And they say, “Well, we don't know. We've never done this.” I say, “I'm so glad you said that. So let me share with you the type of experience that we want you to give them.” One of the key things that the students and the educators ask about is, “How much will I make? You know, what time, you know, how long will I work?” So, one of the challenges that we run into, most of the manufacturers in our region are 10 or 12 hour days. That's hard, taking someone right out of high school that's been going to school 5 or 6 hours a day, and you're asking them to work 10 or 12 hours a day. Students learn about work at work. So, what we've had to do is kind of take it back a notch. You can't expect someone, the 17, 18-year-olds, to start in your plant, work 10 or 12 hours and be an efficient, good worker. You just can't. So, we kind of work with our education partners, our community colleges, our soft skills organizations to make sure that we can kind of build the students up before they have to understand. We do what's called a match making session. So, we'll get with the HR manager at a manufacturer and say, “Hey, let's just have a casual conversation with these students and let them know: Before you can work here, you have to have a valid driver's license. You have to have reliable transportation. You cannot talk like you text.” You have to you know, there are a lot of different things that you have to talk to them about.
Carrie:
That’s so important.
Jeanette Jones:
The soft skills. So, and those are spaces that people just don't think about. But that matchmaking session is so important because you get a chance to see if this person will be a good fit. They may say, “I thought this was what I want to do, but I don't think so.” And then they may say, “Yeah, I think this would be great.” So, you give them give them an inside look of what happens at your company culture is everything. We work with our manufacturers to find out what's happening. They say retention is a problem. Well, what did you do with the people you know when you brought them in? You know, what was the onboarding process like? We find that mid-level leadership have challenges with younger people. You're bringing them in at $29.32 an hour or $18, $19 an hour when this person's been there 30 years and they started out making $7. You know, that can be, that has been issues. So, we work with them in a lot of different spaces and places. We have our training providers. We, you know, just find out what your needs are. How can we help you stay and grow in Memphis? So, you know, a key part is your workforce. You cannot stay and grow in Memphis without workforce, but you have to prepare the workforce first. And that's what I think, that's the part that's been missing. You can't expect them to graduate from high school and start working at Hershey's and work a ten-hour shift, you know, four days a week and be great and efficient. You have to really work with them. And it's almost like slow walk the process. But once you get them and do that part and they see the culture and you nurture them, you got them.
Shea:
Right.
Carrie:
Wow.
Shea:
And I think, you have shared you had a similar experience growing up where you were exposed to a manufacturer.
Jeanette Jones:
Yeah, a steel mill. You know, Gary is called the, you know, Steel City, you know, I got a chance to tour Steel Mill. And once you see that, you realize either this is what you want to do or this is not what you want to do.
Shea:
Right.
Jeanette Jones:
Yeah, that was not something that I ever wanted to do.
Shea:
How you remembered it.
Jeanette Jones:
However, I never forgot it.
Shea:
Yeah.
Jeanette Jones:
And that's what I always share. You never forget that experience. Gary is called Steel City for a reason. It was an amazing city before the steel mill closed. It's one of those cities that it was devastated once it closed.
Shea:
Yeah.
Jeanette Jones:
However, I never forgot about that. And since in my journey in manufacturing, I've learned other cities have had the same thing. You know, Ohio, places in Ohio were steel cities, and they manufactured things. But once you lose that core of your manufacturing, it can be devastating to a city. Have not forgotten that. So, which kind of took me to the economic development side of it. So, I see it's important to keep that going and make sure that people understand these are these are the parts of your community that you have to make sure that they remain viable. They can't remain viable without workforce.
Carrie:
Right.
Jeanette Jones:
Everything has come back to workforce, which was really interesting because, originally I wanted to be in economic development, and make sure that companies can grow and expand in Memphis and recruit businesses to come to Memphis. You can do all of those things, but if you don't have the workforce working, you will not be successful.
Shea:
Yeah. That's important.
Carrie:
I think going into those places and having a tour like you guys have set up, which is very impactful, I'm sure, to the students, but, like you said, they don't know if they're not able to see it. And I think that changes everything because you don't understand how it operates, and you can't really have that appreciation without going in and seeing it firsthand. And I agree with you. With some people, when you walk in, you're going to see, “Yes, this is for me, this is what I want to be a part of.” And others are like, “Nope, I know this isn't it.” But at least they have that opportunity to see and decide that before they get started into something that isn't a good fit.
Jeanette Jones:
Yes, and I think that's one of the things that chamber will be remembered for, this body of work. Because this is unchartered territory for a chamber. We were chamber of the year last year because of part of this work. We do a lot in the chamber. We move in a lot of different spaces and places. We have a podcast called Talk Chamber, which is what I did last year. And that's how, probably why I'm here today because of the chamber’s Talk Chamber.
Shea:
Yeah.
Jeanette Jones:
However, we wanted to make sure that things that we did were different and unique. We always say, we're not your breakfast chamber, and we are not. Because of these tours. We have people calling all the time, saying, “Hey, I want to connect with Hershey's. I want to connect with Wesson Oil. How do I connect with them?” Well, out of respect to our investors, we can't just give you that information. And what I've learned is my manufacturers, they don't respond or react without a little nudge or a soft introduction or, so I kind of bridge the gap, and I'll reach out to them and say, “Hey, I got a group of students. You know, or some ready to work adults, or some seniors graduating from high school, that want to learn more about your company.” Once I do that, then, you know, they say, “Okay.” So, we're the intermediary. That's what we do. We make sure that we can do that. So, we have partnerships with our superintendents, with our CTE directors, with our community colleges, with University of Memphis, with Christian Brothers. So, we bridge those gaps from that, that missing piece, from that education, from the student side of it to make sure that they can actually connect with them. That's been the biggest challenges for companies and the educators and the students. Students will say, “Well, I don't know how to get in. I filled out an application online.” So that's a whole other level. Applications are outdated. And, you know, and it goes to, you know, Sharp manufacturing in, you know, Canada, not in Memphis. So, we're working with our companies so that they'll understand, make it relatable. This is someone that's in Memphis that wants to apply for a job in Memphis. So, one of the unique things that we're doing this year for Manufacturing Month, our website, which we always have, but we're going to put active, open positions in Memphis in manufacturing. So, we're going to get them to click on the link. And it's going to take you to Sharp manufacturing positions that are open right here in Memphis. So, we're doing that with multiple companies that have reached out like Nucor Steel have positions open. National Guard Products have positions open. So, there are a lot of companies. And Hershey's has positions open. But the challenge was yeah, there are positions open, but it doesn't, there's nom it's not easy to navigate. So, we're going to try to make it easy for them to navigate to have access to those jobs.
Shea:
That's great. So how is the council, the Advanced Manufacturing Council, impacting the manufacturers already here and the workforce and the different pipelines they're all coming from?
Jeanette Jones:
Yes. So, I'm glad you asked that question, because actually I have something else that I want to share. So, I recently connected with someone from the FBI.
Shea:
Wow.
Jeanette Jones:
The FBI, they're going to come and speak to the council to talk about cybersecurity and AI. They actually do the same thing that Memphis Police Department does. One of the things that we've done, we are very intentional about who we put in front of the council. So, I am, I treat them all like my kids. So, I want to make sure that I give you guys the best experience. And, you know, I don't want to waste anybody's time. So, Memphis Police Department, one of the things that they will, they've come and talked to the council. They do site safety assessments. So, a site safety assessment, they will come and look around your business, inside of your business, and tell you where you're blind spots are and how you can improve that. As you know, we don't shy away from the issues that Memphis has, but we want to equip you with the things that you need so that you can capture those blind spots and make sure that you're prepared if something happens, and if it doesn't happen, you're already doing well. We do the same thing with the fire department. The fire department will come out, they actually came out and spoke to the council and they shared with them, “Hey, we'll come out. We'll do a free site safety assessment for you as well.” Those are things that I don't think a lot of people are getting. The council is made up of our manufacturers, our community partners and our community leaders. It's not just manufacturers. It's a group. It takes a little bit more than one, you know, entity to make up the council. So, the site safety assessments and we're very intentional about who, like I said, who we put in front of the council. So, we had Mid-South Literacy Foundation. So, they came out, they talked to our manufacturers. Which, there was a meeting before the meeting. So, I knew that they were going to share this, which I was really excited, but didn't think about this. They have a lot of people that's been in manufacturing for 35, 45 years, but they're not real computer literate. They may not be able to read well. They know their jobs, but there are a lot of missing pieces. And what Literacy Mid-South does, they will go in in a very discreet way. They'll upskill those employees. And I love that. And when they shared that, light bulbs went off. I got a lot of emails and calls and texts afterwards, “Hey, how can I get them to come to my company? Because I do have people that, you know, that have those issues, but they don't want us to know that.” So, I think that I thought that was a really great addition to our meeting. And I definitely want them. They come every year to share their different assets. One of the things that we don't really realize, the average age of a manufacturing worker in the state of Tennessee is 55 years old. They are aging out. And that's scary. If we're not prepared for the people that are aging out, what do we do? So, we have to make sure that we can make manufacturing sexy again for this younger generation. I think there was a time when it was exciting and it was fun and people, everybody was in manufacturing, but now it's changing.
Shea:
Well, communities were built around it.
Jeanette Jones:
Communities were built around it.
Shea:
You know, everybody worked there.
Jeanette Jones:
So, we have to do our part to make, you know, I always say make Memphis greater, but we also have to do our part to uplift, you know, the manufacturing side so that people will understand these are good paying jobs. “I can live well. I don't have to incur a lot of student loan debt.” One of the things we do with our community colleges and our four-year universities, you know, a lot of the companies say, “Well, we pay, we'll do tuition reimbursement.” Well, tuition reimbursement is not really fair if you don't have the money to pay up front. So, some of the companies have decided to go to direct pay. So, they will pay the university up front. You sign a contract that you're going to work for them for the next 48 months until you complete your program. And that way you have skin in the game and they do.
Shea:
Yeah.
Jeanette Jones:
You get your certification, or you get your degree, or whatever that is. And that way there was no money out of your pocket. Most people that want to further their education may not have $6500 or $5500 for that tuition upfront, but if the company that I'm already working for chooses to invest in me, that's the best retention tool ever. I am going to stay there, and I'm going to invite my friends and family to come and work there. It's retention at it’s best. Retention is a big problem that we have. You know, people bounce around for a dollar more, not really realizing.
Shea:
They don’t realize the full cost.
Carrie:
Right.
Jeanette Jones:
Yeah, the full cost. And you have to think about the benefits. So, the companies that have offered that, they see that as working. So, they have several employees that have gone into leadership because of that. So, if we can get all companies to do something like that, I think that would be great. That would help and go a long way, as far as the retention. The other part of that is the wraparound services. You know, just because you work at a company or work at a manufacturer, that doesn't mean you have reliable transportation. You may not have reliable childcare. So, we're trying to assist in those places, too. We have a company that comes to our meetings from Alabama, it’s called TOOTRiS. TOOTRiS is the French word for caregiver. And what they do, they want to make sure that they can offer companies the full wraparound services for childcare. And they'll find the childcare facility that's right there in your community that's been vetted. So, let's say Wesson Oil says, “Hey, we're going to hire, we're going to hire TOOTRiS to help us to, you know, we’ve got 30 people that need childcare services.” And we've connected those dots with them, and that's how. So that's just some of the things that we offer. We want to make sure that, you know, it's not just the conversation we want to offer the wraparound services. We want to connect them to the resources. So, I call myself the connector of resources.
Shea:
That's right.
Jeanette Jones:
So we connect people to the resources that they need to move their companies. You know, especially in this manufacturing space. Post-Covid, things have changed. We also had the interim CEO of MATA, which is Memphis Area Transit Authority, to come and talk to the group. He talked a lot about, you know, transportation and how things were before and where they are now. Before there was a bus, before Covid, there was a bus that ran on President's Island that took people to the manufacturing companies, which was great. They had enough people to ride the bus. But post-Covid, a lot of people didn't go back to work. So that took away that bus service. So now, since we've had these meetings, they're trying to get that back. They've actually done surveys of the manufacturers and say, “Hey, how many people need, you know, need transportation? You know, what are the times?” Because you can't run a full bus with just 20 people. It just doesn't make sense. Right now, they're currently offering free bus services. They have multiple different services like Ready to Ride that will take you within a certain mile radius. So, there are a lot of different layers to this. So, we want to make sure that we can provide our council with the best resources. Ultimately, it's about resources. They don't want to see or hear me talk. They want to know how can you help my company and how can we help each other?
Carrie:
That's great. Wow.
Jeanette Jones:
I know that was a lot I went around.
Carrie:
That’s okay! Why do you think it is important that we support the manufacturing industry in our region?
Jeanette Jones:
I think it's important that all companies support manufacturing. However, you guys do such an amazing job. Not only, this is not your first year, you guys have come back and renewed. So let me say thank you. We appreciate you for taking this journey with us because it is a journey. We chartered into a space that was unknown. But it's important to show that not only are our manufacturers, but the business community has decided to be a part of this as well. Your offerings are great, you know, for students. I've gotten into the weeds. I’ve looked you guys up, and Shea talks about it in our meetings. You guys do great work. It's an opportunity to highlight your business and bring it to the forefront of the community. So, I think anytime you have an audience, my previous career was in marketing, you know, you have to tell them and tell them that you told them again. And sponsorship is the way to do that. From your logo, from just being present, from giving out fliers. So, it's important to do that. And like I said, I thank you guys for doing that. And we highlight your work as much as we can.
Carrie:
Absolutely.
Shea:
Well, thank you. So, October is Manufacturing Month, and of course you all do a great job highlighting manufacturing in Memphis. Had Manufacturing Day, first week of October. And so, what was that like, and what was the event like and how did you expose the students to manufacturing?
Jeanette Jones:
So, it was so exciting. And it's always, we make a big deal out of it. We don't celebrate just Manufacturing Day. Manufacturing Day is always celebrated nationally as the first Friday in October. We celebrate all month. And the monthly celebration is we make sure that we tour a different group and a different manufacturer every week, so it's exposure throughout the month. We highlight it, we push it out on social media. We do Facebook, we do Instagram, we do Snapchat, we do TikTok, making sure we celebrate that. Our kickoff celebration was October the 2nd at American Marsh Pumps. It was a big deal. It was grand. We had a different group this year than we had last year. Last year we did it at Morgan Steel and it was amazing. We had the mayor there. We will always have our mayor there. They see the value in this work. We have our community partners there. We have students from sixth grade to high school to ready to work adults. So, we're very intentional about the groups that we have, because we talk about, you know, from sixth grade to six figures. We’ve got to get our students in that mindset. You plant seeds. And if we can start them thinking about, you know, “I'm in the sixth grade, what do I want to do?” But we show them these career pathways. That's a great way to start it. And we have our, those are the middle schoolers, but we also have our high schoolers that are thinking about, you know, “What's going to be my next, you know, move. What do I want to do? Do I want to go to four-year college? Do I just want to go get go straight to work?” And then we have a group of ready to work adults. So, our ready to work adults come from the Goodwill Excel Center. The Goodwill Excel Center, These are adults that chose to go back to school to get their high school diploma. They have had, they’re from all walks of life. Some of them may have been justice involved. Some of them just may have, life happened and they couldn't finish. But we always invite them and they participate because these are opportunities for them. These are our career ready adults that you know, hey, a lot of times people forget about that population. And we always say even with our second chance population, “Just because you had a past, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a future.” So, we're very intentional to make sure that we can lift that group up. That's just one of them. So, we are working now with the uniquely abled. So uniquely abled means a lot of different things. But in manufacturing, people that can work a CNC machine, it's repetition. People with autism do great in this space. And Medtronic has several students and young adults that have autism that work, they just program the machine all day and they're excellent workers and they loyal and they show up on time. So, that's a group that we're tapping into as well. A lot of times we've had conversations with that group and they feel underrepresented. They feel like people forget about them. But we don't want to forget about them. We want them to understand that we're here and we appreciate you. And there is a great work space for you. There is a great career opportunity for you. These are not jobs. These are careers, and that's what we start with them. So, we're working in a lot of different spaces and places. We're trying to tap into all of those different pockets of workforce. It's not just one group, it's a lot of different groups, and it's important that we hit every sector that we can.
Carrie:
Wow. That’s great.
Shea:
Well, I think y’all are trying to develop all the different pipelines. We're going to get people to work no matter what.
Jeanette Jones:
Yes.
Shea:
Find all those different pipelines and make it work and connect the dots. So that's great.
Jeanette Jones:
And that's important. Connecting the dots. A lot of times, like I said, people don't think about that. My brother had cerebral palsy. He was never able to walk or talk. However, I'm intentional to make sure that we can lift up that community. My sister, who was a special ed teacher for a long time, and that was her motivation for doing that. So, that population will always be important to me. And it wasn't even something that the chamber thought about before we got into this space. Once we started looking into, you know, second chance and alternative and now we're working with our immigrant population. We have a lot of students that have come from, you know, different parts of the country, and they want to work in Memphis, but you know, there are layers to that. They have to get visas and all that. But they're part of our community, too. They are a part of that talent pipeline. So, a lot of different pockets, like you said, of the talent pipeline. So, our goal is not just to tap into one, but it's to tap into all of them. We want everybody to feel included, and we don't want anybody to feel excluded.
Shea:
I think I think that's a great thing about Memphis.
Jeanette Jones:
Yes.
Shea:
That any Memphian would say, “We want everybody to be included.”
Carrie:
Yes
Shea:
That's great.
Jeanette Jones:
Yes.
Carrie:
Okay, so this is a financial podcast. So, I do like to ask, what is the best piece of financial advice you've ever been given?
Jeanette Jones:
To save. You know, to save. It's important to save and to plan. If you don't plan to get it, you don't get it. And to me, planning and savings go hand in hand. A lot of times we don't think about that. When you're younger, you're just thinking you're gonna live forever, and, you know, everything is going to fall into place. It's not. So, if you can save and plan to get it, you'll get it. But if you don't plan to get it, you don't get it.
Carrie:
I like it.
Jeanette Jones:
So, I think that's really, really important. And that needs to be, just kind of hammered into our younger generation. But you have to save and you have to plan.
Shea:
I was especially going to say, with all these young people starting, and if they're starting to a nice paying job like we're talking about, always save first.
Jeanette Jones:
Yes, exactly.
Carrie:
Begin your 401k.
Jeanette Jones:
They should be, the second people that they talk, you guys should be the second people that they talk to, once they start with the company. I think they should start with HR, and then they should start with you guys, because they are getting into a space where they are making money. They need to know to save and to plan.
Shea:
That's right. Absolutely. So, if you found some little extra change, just some pocket change in your pocket, what would you spend it on?
Jeanette Jones:
Probably pay it forward. I think that's important.
Shea:
That's right.
Jeanette Jones:
I'm 58 years old. I have more than enough. So why not pay it forward to someone else?
Shea:
And give it back.
Jeanette Jones:
And give it back.
Shea:
Yeah. That's great.
Carrie:
Well, Jeanette, we have sure enjoyed your company today. Thank you for sharing everything about Manufacturing Month and what all you do and what's going on in the Greater Memphis area.
Jeanette Jones:
Well, thank you for having me.