When you ask them about their careers, twins Wes and Ches Jackson are quick to point out that no one really graduates from college and aspires to sell hot dogs. But in 1982, with UTMartin business degrees in hand, that’s exactly what they sold along with other Reelfoot Packing Co. products. Their father, Billy Joe, had worked for the Union City, Tenn., Reelfoot plant most of his career, and they naturally gravitated there for jobs in high school and to help finance their college educations.

That early experience in the food industry made indelible marks on the Obion County natives, who spent the first 25 years of their careers apart and advancing in the corporate food industry. Early on, it was their interest in sales that earned them top management positions with companies such as Sara Lee Corp. and Con Agra Foods. (Wes was president of Sara Lee Dinner Group in Cincinnati, and Ches was vice president/customer development for Con Agra Foods in Tampa, Fla.) More recently, it was their entrepreneurial bent that led Wes in 2004 to co-found and become president and chief executive officer of Monogram Food Solutions in Memphis and Ches to join him two years later as president of Monogram Meat Snacks division.

“Once we got into the business, I think both of us would tell you we figured out that sales, and sales in the meat business, was a pretty good gig,” said Ches. “I don’t think either one of us has ever considered leaving the food business once we got into it.”

And, they value not only their business degrees at UTMartin that got them started, but their years of experience in the corporate world. Speaking of UTMartin’s business department, Ches said, “I believed then and (believe) today that it has a very fine academic curriculum.” Wes noted, “We were proud of the education and felt like, from a business school perspective, that we were ready to conquer the world.” However, he added, “If it were not for the experience gained working in a large corporate environment, then it would make it very difficult to do what we’re doing.”

The brothers and the Monogram management team, including Karl Schledwitz, UT graduate (‘74) and UT Board of Trustee member, have taken the company in a myriad of exciting directions, especially in the area of food product licensing. Monogram now has licensing agreements with Jeff Foxworthy and NASCAR for varieties of meat snacks and Emeril Lagasse for a line of gourmet coffees.

Meat and meat snacks – beef jerky, smoked sausages, hot dogs, bacon and sandwich meats – are produced in the company’s Chandler, Minn., manufacturing plant. Another plant in Muncie, Ind., currently being acquired, produces breaded meat patties and corn dogs. Monogram also has well-known Mid-South brands, King Cotton and Circle B meats, in its family of products. The company acquired the meat snacks division and the King Cotton and Circle B brands from Sara Lee. Extending its reach, Monogram also produces meats and meat snacks as private labels for several national companies.

Licensing continues to be one of the most exciting aspects of Monogram’s business. The company’s business development strategies often begin with “what if?” Wes said, “We make most of our own products in our manufacturing facility. We try to find brands that have equity that complements our production capabilities.” As an example, he explained, it seemed like a natural for Jeff Foxworthy to have a line of beef jerky and meat snacks that Monogram markets as its own brand and pays Foxworthy a royalty. The same applies for the NASCAR line of products. A partner in Seattle produces the gourmet coffee that is aptly dubbed for Emeril Lagasse.

The pair has similar characteristics and business acumen, but they opt for a “divide and conquer” approach using specific strengths to help lead the organization. “In a small company where resources are always at a premium, there’s not a lot of room for redundancy, so you figure out who’s going to be in charge of what, and you run with it,” said Ches. He terms himself the day-to-day operations chief, focusing more of his energy on execution and continuous improvement, while Wes heads up the King Cotton and Circle B brands and spearheads business development “trying to land the next deal.”

“It’s certainly not split between Wes and me,” said Ches. “There’s a lot of intellectual horsepower here that adds value.” Wes added, “We are so fortunate to have such a great group of hard-working, talented people,” many of whom worked with the brothers earlier in their careers. The management team is made up of people who are exercising their entrepreneurial instincts. “The reality is if you don’t have it (entrepreneurial spirit), you wouldn’t be here,” said Wes. “It’s just a different satisfaction when you’re working for a private organization … and the decisions you make as a team clearly impact a lot of people’s lives more closely than they do in corporate America.”

Wes and Ches, who were inseparable from childhood through college, are glad to be working together again. They also like living close to their father, Billy Joe, and mother, Evelyn. And, they enjoy each other’s families. Ches and wife, Susan, are the parents of two sons, 18-year-old Palmer and seven-year-old Hamilton, and 16-year-old daughter, Kelsey. Wes and wife, Suzanne, have a nine-year-old son, Cole, and three-year-old twins, daughter, Sidney and son, Tate.

Looking to the future, both agree Monogram Food Solutions is “where we want to be.” In the early stages, Wes explained, “We were talking with NASCAR (officials), with Emeril Lagasse and with Jeff Foxworthy simultaneously. I would say the goal was at the time if we could get any one of these licensing deals, then that would be validity; it would be a good start to our business. As it turned out, not only did we get one of them, we got all three. Those moments for me were very exciting, kind of defining moments, because I knew that the risk we had taken would pay off.”

“If you look at the brands and what we’ve got in manufacturing ready to go to market . . . we think we’re ahead of where we need to be,” Ches said and added, “We’ve got two to three years of really good, hard work to make sure these brands deliver what we think they should. And there’s tons of growth in the next two to three years.

“Today, we have a plateful. We’re just making sure we execute very well against what we’ve already put in place,” said Ches. “We want to take what we’ve got and build it into a really solid, long-term national business, and then we will plug in and bolt on where it’s a strategic fit. We have an appetite for growth.”