Commitment to Community

J&S Construction and our employees strive to show a spirit of Servanthood in all that we do. The following projects are some examples of that demonstration.

J&S Construction donated the materials and furnished the labor to erect the office building for Mustard Seed Ranch, which is a home for underprivileged children in the Upper Cumberland Region. The employees donated their own time for the labor. After the actual living accommodations were completed, J&S and its Charitable Foundation donated a wide screen television for the home’s den.

This is not the first time J&S employees have donated their time and talents to help the community. At another time, they built a Habitat for Humanity house for a deserving local candidate.

J&S employees formed a team that assisted the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce with its 2010 and 2011 membership drives. It’s the belief of J&S, that by helping with the growth of the Chamber of Commerce, we are contributing to the growth and development of the entire Upper Cumberland Region.

The employees of J&S established a special voluntary charity in 1990. Since that time, J&S employees have made contributions amounting to over $108,000 to numerous charities. Some well known charities the J&S charity foundation has contributed include: St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Tennessee Epilepsy Foundation, Tennessee Association for the Deaf, National Children’s Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association and Special Olympics. Some local charities contributed to include: Camp Discovery, Cookeville Rescue Squad, Cookeville Pregnancy Center, Plateau Pregnancy Center and the Toys for Tots drive. All the donations sponsored by the J&S Charity Fund were matched by J&S. As part of the charity funds yearly activity, J&S sponsors and hosts a table at the Cookeville Pregnancy Center’s Annual Fundraising Banquet. In addition to J&S employees attending the banquet, a number of other people were invited and dined at the J&S table.

J&S co-sponsored Monterey High School’s Virtual Enterprise Class’s website, www.yourspace-tn.com. This class is part of a global initiative to inspire high school juniors and seniors who aspire to be entrepreneurs. J&S hosted lunch for the Monterey class at its office building. The members Your Space, the virtual company, shared their business model with Johnny Stites, CEO of J&S. Mr. Stites encouraged them to continue their education and pursue their dreams. J&S employees judged the students’ business cards, video productions, and participated in their networking event which wrapped up the Global Entrepreneurship Week. J&S representatives, along with other community volunteers, attended a luncheon at Monterey High School sponsored by the Upper Cumberland Development District. This luncheon honored the students of the Virtual Enterprise class and they also had opportunity to participate in a “speed mentoring session” with the community business representatives serving as mentors.

To help put people in the 6^th district back to work, Congressman Diane Black hosted a job fair at Tennessee Tech University’s Hooper Eblen Center. The purpose of this event was to help connect job seekers with businesses that are hiring or plan to hire. Another part of the event was seminars on resume writing and interviewing skills. Along with 60 other employers, J&S Construction participated in this successful event and was able to meet a number of talented candidates.

In February of 2012, J&S Construction presented Joe Matheney, principal of White Plains Academy (Algood, Tenn.), with tee shirts and toiletry items to be placed in the school’s “Eagle’s Closet.” Students and their family members may shop at this location during designated times of the year for needed items such as clothing, school supplies, etc.

White Plains Academy is a different type of school because of the nature of the student population. Not only does the population differ but, like all schools, so do individual needs of the students. The staff at White Plains works hard to identify each student’s strengths and opportunities for improvement and develop a plan to guide her/him to success. The school welcomes donations to the Eagle’s Closet at all times of the year. If you have questions regarding White Plains Academy, please contact Mr. Joe Matheney at (931) 537-3862.