James Johnson knew a good thing when he had it.
Johnson went to work for the company now known as Thomson Prestress when he was 18 years old, just graduated from East High School and playing baseball for the Jackson Hawks.
That was 60 years ago.
At 78 years old, Johnson is still working for Thomson Prestress as the plant superintendent and has no intention of retiring.
“I enjoy what I do, and I’m treated very, very well,” Johnson said. “I don’t see a need to retire if they don’t want to get rid of me.”
Johnson’s 60 years of work (and counting) was honored last week as the company gathered at Jackson Country Club to celebrate his work, commitment and consistency.
“It’s a real nice company run by nice people that treat you real good,” Johnson said when asked about what kept him with the company so long. “I appreciate what they do, and I feel like they appreciate me.
“I take it one day at a time, and when you’ve got a good job for good people, you never think much about going anywhere else. Or I don’t.”
Johnson said the only time he’s ever entertained the idea of going elsewhere was when he was recruited and offered to go to another company, but that company was based in Montgomery, Ala.
“I thought about it, but I didn’t want to move and didn’t really want to leave,” Johnson said. “Their offer wasn’t enough to make me want to do either.”
Johnson went to work for Wade Thomson, Sr., when he offered him a job while taking him to a baseball game. Wade’s grandson, Wade III, is the current CEO of the company.
“He treats his employees as well as his father and grandfather did,” Johnson said.
The Thomson family feels similarly about Johnson.
“My personal connection to James runs deep, as I have known him since I was a child,” Wade Thomson III said to the crowd celebrating Johnson at the country club. “From driving the John Deere tractor around the yard at 14 years old to running errands for him and [production manager] Tory in high school, and later working for him during college, I have had the privilege of growing up under his mentorship and guidance.”
There are about 100 employees at Thomson Prestress. A good portion of them were at the banquet in his honor.
“It makes me feel good,” Johnson said when asked how he felt going into the evening. “I feel appreciated, and I feel like I’ve got a lot of good friends that care about me.
“When you’ve got that at work, why would you want to stop working if you still can?”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news
