Our Legacy of Hard Work and Generosity
Our founder, Joe Morris, was the son of a Tennessee sharecropper. Like every farm family, everyone worked, and worked hard. As Joe grew, he learned the value of hard work, persistence, and setting the right priorities. Between the work of the farm and a cane pole he kept hidden under a bridge on the three-mile walk to school, he sometimes missed school. However, he wouldn’t let a lack of formal education hold him back in later years.
A big change came along when Joe’s father had a falling out with the farmer he worked for. Fortunately, an ad in the local newspaper offered work at the Greenlee Company in Rockford. His dad signed on, and soon the whole family relocated.
Farming was out, but working hard to support the family was still in! Joe, just 14 years old, lied about his age and found work at a bowling alley, and then at Parson’s Casket Hardware. Joe gained a lot of valuable experience and knowledge, though he also lost two fingers in a punch press mishap.
An Entrepreneurial Opportunity
After a few years, he took his skills and confidence to Camcar, one of the stalwarts of fastener manufacturing in the area. Joe filled several roles over the years, learning maintenance, plating, induction hardening, and heat treating. Eventually he was promoted to head the heat treating department, and then general supervisor over those manufacturing lines.
By now, Joe and his wife, Maggie, had a growing family with three sons. And just like his father, Joe had a sudden disruption at work provide him a new opportunity. A change of ownership at Camcar gave Joe and Maggie a chance to build a company of their own.
In 1986, Textron bought Camcar and soon decided to leave the fastener plating business behind due to environmental concerns. While he was training outside suppliers to take over those processes, Joe realized that with the right equipment and workers, he could provide all those services while staying within EPA guidelines. He and Maggie decided to take the risk and start their own company, J&M Plating.
With seed money from Belvidere Bank, used plating equipment from Chicago, and plenty of hard work from the whole family, they were able to open J&M in the old Parsons building in Belvidere. Their first month’s sales were only $1,500 dollars, but they were off and running!
While building up the company, Joe and Maggie (and later their sons) built a reputation for taking very good care of their employees and keeping a “family company” atmosphere. Anytime there was an excuse to celebrate a success, gifts were given, and Joe was on the grill, cooking up steaks for the J&M workforce.
Thirty-five years later, J&M operates out of a 220,000 square foot facility, with over 140 employees working 24/7 to meet customer demand.
The Morris Family (left to right): Mark, Maggie, Dave, Joe, and Rick.
The Morals of the Story
What effect does this cane pole to CEO story have on our company? We’ve learned some lessons from Joe & Maggie’s journey:
Great things come from humble beginnings, and hard work means more than credentials. For that reason, we’re always willing to give a hard worker a shot at a good job.
Joe needed help from his family, a banker, and many employees to create a solid company. For that reason, we always value the contribution of every worker and customer.
In fact, when it comes to employees, we strive every day to follow the lessons we learned from Joe and Maggie and treat every worker like family, with recognition, generous benefits, and 3.5-day work weeks.
If you’d like to be one of those valued employees and hear more about J&M and our current openings, please visit https://www.jmplating.com/employment