30 at 30: Scott Butler
Executive MBA – Strategic Leadership Class of 2016
President: Jones Family of Companies
After graduating from high school, Scott Butler enrolled in vocational school. He had no inkling that vocational school was just the beginning of what would become an exceptional executive career and a journey of lifelong learning. Butler credits his father with helping him to get his start.
“I’m a third-generation employee of Jones Family of Companies,” Butler explained. “While in vocational school, I lost a job that I had. My father, working at Jones, said, ‘We need some help, and you start Sunday night at 11 o’clock.’”
Job application in hand, Butler took his father’s advice and arrived for his first shift at Jones Family of Companies in 1992. In the years that followed, he was promoted from a night-shift operator role, to maintenance, to supervision and ultimately to plant manager in 1998.
The Path to Promotion
Jones Family of Companies’ owner and its CEO of saw Butler’s leadership potential, and they encouraged him to complete his bachelor’s degree.
“I had two kids and a wife at home, so I started at a local community college, then went to Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, to get my undergrad,” said Butler.
He attended undergraduate night classes every week for two years, all while raising his family and continuing to grow at work. During that time, he was promoted to vice president of operations, overseeing six facilities.
Butler’s executive team at the Jones Family of Companies, particularly the company owner and the CEO, mentored him through the early stages of his leadership journey. In addition to providing professional and educational opportunities, they showed Butler the importance of personal connections.
“During our meetings, we didn’t just talk about the business piece – we talked about personal growth,” Butler said. “We talked about our families. They taught me that there was more than just the activity of the day if you wanted to build trust and long-term relationships.”
Cohort Commonality
Based on Butler’s continued success, his executive mentors suggested that he seek out an MBA program to advance his business education even further. After exploring a few different schools, Butler selected UT’s Haslam College of Business Executive MBA program (now the Executive MBA – Strategic Leadership [EMBA-SL] program).
At first, Butler was concerned about how his experience would compare to other executives in the cohort. His worries abated quickly when he discovered that he had many things in common with his classmates, including a desire to better his company through service and leadership.
“I was homegrown,” Butler said. “I had come up through my company and was lacking the ‘executive confidence’ to sit in the classroom with other people who had many more experiences than I did. But walking into the preview day, I felt immediately comfortable.”
Developing Executive Confidence
The faculty and cohort became a trusted network that helped Butler grow personally and professionally. Lane Morris, associate dean of Undergraduate Studies and Student Affairs and John W. Fisher Professor of Innovative Learning, served as Butler’s faculty advisor, helping him recognize his leadership strengths.
“Lane assisted me greatly in understanding gaps in confidence, and he never missed an opportunity to show me my natural ability for building trust with individuals on my team,” Butler said.
Butler also developed close relationships with his fellow students, who, despite having differing job functions and industries, shared common motivations and challenges as executive leaders.
“One of my best friends in the program is from South Africa, who was working for a lithium mining company in Canada,” Butler explained. “And here I am, from Humboldt, Tennessee, working for a textile organization. But I realized that we all have things in common. We’re all in this together.”
He still talks with some his EMBA classmates monthly, and they try to meet in person once or twice a year.
From Dream to Reality
One of Butler’s biggest takeaways from the EMBA program was an understanding of how to identify and fill gaps in his industry. Shortly after graduating, Butler leveraged his business knowledge to launch his own company, Cades Consulting & Maintenance Services, focusing on industrial maintenance and consulting for the textile industry.
Cades Consulting & Maintenance became a trusted partner to the Jones Family of Companies, as the two offered complementary services, and Butler ultimately sold his business to Jones, retaining 30 percent ownership. He is proud to see his company operating under the Jones Family of Companies umbrella, knowing the collaboration has made both organizations stronger.
“It’s opened so many doors, and it expands our capabilities for our customer base,” Butler explained. “It’s been a full-circle experience.”
In addition to meeting an industrywide need, Butler’s entrepreneurial venture gave the Jones Family of Companies another avenue to retain talent. When a few seasoned employees at Jones began expressing interest in leadership, rather than see them move on to other organizations, Butler offered them positions in his new company.
“Knowing that there were gaps in the industry and understanding the cultural shifts in the workforce helped me consider how I could hold onto employees and reengage employees,” Butler said. “Some of my maintenance workers wanted a different set of walls to look at each day, so I was able to provide that for them, and give them a chance to spread their wings.”
Butler said his company went from a “thought and a dream” to doing over $1.5 million dollars of business annually and employing 10 stellar employees today.
A Priceless Investment
In addition to his incredible professional impact on Jones Family of Companies, Butler’s EMBA knowledge gave him a new way to invest in his family. Butler purchased Load Toters, Inc., from its retiring owner. This bolstered Cades Consulting & Management’s growth, bringing his welding and fabrication work inhouse and enabling Butler to employ his 18-year-old son and his father.
After losing his mother in 2022, Butler recognized that his nearly 80-year-old father needed a meaningful way to invest his time. Taking on a role at Load Toters gave Butler’s father a sense of purpose, as well as a chance to spend time with his teenage grandson.
“My dad’s experience was being instilled in my son, all day, every day,” Butler said. “And that was priceless.”
EMBA Words of Wisdom
In 2023, having established himself as a successful business owner and an integral leader, Butler earned a well-deserved promotion to become president of Jones Family of Companies in 2023. Reflecting on his time as an Executive MBA student, Butler shared his thoughts on participants’ effectiveness as leaders can blossom in the program.
“You have to go into this program knowing that you’re going to be leading someone,” he said. “Very few businesses are a one-person job. Keep in mind that you’re here to serve others, and this program will give you the confidence and tools you need to succeed. You’ll come out brighter, more experienced and able to serve and accomplish your goals.”