MANSFIELD – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown toured behind the scenes of Jones’ Potato Chip Company on Monday, a staple of his hometown.
With a hair net taming the senator’s salt-and-pepper curls, Brown made his way through the bowels of the factory learning firsthand the ins and outs of an Ohio manufacturing company, one of his passions. He paused only occasionally to mischievously taste a fresh batch of Jones’ Chips.
According to Jones’ vice president Darryl Jones, that’s a privilege reserved only for U.S. senators.
“I didn’t have the guts to tell him,” Jones said with a laugh.
Still, Darryl and his brother, Jones’ President Bob Jones, welcomed the opportunity to host Brown on Monday.
“A person like him is so busy, so to have a United States senator willing to carve out some time, it’s an honor to have someone do that,” said Bob Jones. “And I know he ate these chips when he was growing up, I could tell through conversation he’s from here and knows the area well. It’s fun to be a part of that.”
Brown has been a strong supporter of American manufacturing, opposing trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and working to spur innovation and investment in manufacturing. He said Monday he makes a point to visit both large and small manufacturing companies.
“I like to see things being made,” Brown said. “I’ve been into the office to buy Jones’ Chips before but I’ve never actually walked through it. It’s fun to see this, and manufacturing is how a lot of people make their living.”
In many ways, Brown said, Ohio is the leading manufacturing state in the country.
“We make a lot of processed food, cars, chemicals…we’re the biggest yogurt manufacturer in North America,” he said. “We make just about everything in this state, I could name hundreds of things.”
As part of his support for American manufacturing, Brown authored the Revitalizing American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act, signed into law in December 2014. The bill created a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation made up of advanced manufacturing hubs to bring together industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and all levels of government to leverage resources and spur innovation.
“There will be two or three dozen of these (hubs) around the country,” Brown said. “The first one was Youngstown; companies in the region can benefit from it. Working with local businesses and companies all around the state is their way of tapping into this.”
Brown’s office also hosts a series of Manufacturing Camps each summer, aimed at getting a new generation of Ohioans interested in manufacturing jobs. The camp targets mostly seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade students and works with local companies across the state.
“People say they want more manufacturing except they don’t want their kid to do it, but when they see the technology and the kinds of jobs, that’s going to change,” Brown said. “It’s one of the things we’re trying to show at these manufacturing camps. We organize with local manufacturers and community business groups, and it’s taken off pretty well.”
Bob Jones also praised Brown’s initiative to invest in the future of manufacturing.
“If there’s no investment in manufacturing, nothing is going to happen,” he said. “Your business will dry up over time.”
Jones’ Potato Chip Company has produced family-made chips and snacks in Ohio since 1945. According to Bob Jones, that success is largely due to persistence.
“A lot of that has to do with just being here and doing a good, quality job,” he said. “Opportunities tend to find us faster than we can find them. The situation in terms of our growth is largely due to the good job we’ve been trying to do for 70 years, and calls coming in. All of our largest customers have been a result of them finding us.”
Bob Jones also noted the business is quite different than it was even a few years ago – particularly their chip recipe. The company caused quite a stir in the community when they announced in May they would be changing the oil used to cook their traditional potato chips, following a U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandate.
After an unofficial taste test Monday, Brown was on the fence.
“They’re healthier and that’s a good decision they made and the government made,” he said. “Personally I don’t know that you can taste much difference.”
