Recent Thomas University graduate finds role at Madjax
Published 6:06 pm Wednesday, August 20, 2014
- Submitted photoHunjun “Jamie” Chen joins Scott Blanton, chief financial officer of Madjax, in front of the company’s headquarters in Cairo.
Staff report
THOMASVILLE — Just a few weeks ago Hunjun “Jamie” Chen, originally from China, completed the Master of Business Administration Degree at Thomas University. Now he’s taking what he learned in the classroom and putting the knowledge to use in his position as an intern at Madjax in Cairo. While there he’s also learning from another TU alumnus, Scott Blanton, who serves as Chief Financial Officer of the company.
Madjax designs, sources and distributes golf cart accessories. Since June 26, Chen has become accustomed to the different duties at Madjax by rotating through various positions in the company. The rotation has given him a feel for the business from the front desk to the warehouse and the administrative offices in between. For Chen the biggest challenge has been putting his English skills into practice.
“Everybody here has helped me a lot,” Chen said. “The language is definitely at a different level when you’re working than when you’re studying.”
In addition to the Cairo location, Madjax also has a location in Shenzhen, China. Having a Chinese employee in the Cairo location could be beneficial to Madjax’s Chinese operation.
“We deal with China every day,” Blanton said. “We’ve realized there’s a huge cultural gap. Having someone who can understand our process and everything we do can then go back to China and help on that end. We hope that we can create more efficiencies on their end.”
For Chen, the position is providing the work experience he needs.
“To get a good job in China, I must have experience,” Chen said. “I have the degree, but now I must get experience.”
Blanton knows firsthand how Thomas University helped prepare Chen for this new position. Blanton graduated from TU in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
“At Thomas University, you get a lot more attention than at a bigger school,” Blanton said. “I once had a professor tell me that everyone who goes to college can get an education or just get a degree. It’s a lot easier to get a real education at TU than somewhere bigger. There’s more of a one-on-one focus on students.”
Now Blanton is putting his education to work with Madjax. Since he started with the company in September 2012, sales have doubled and the number of employees has tripled. With the fast growth, Madjax moved from Thomasville to a larger location in Cairo in January 2014. Blanton credits the growth with Madjax’s customer service and branding initiatives. He also credits the company’s employees.
“Everyone here plays a role at multiple levels,” Blanton said. “I work as much on R&D (research and development) as I do on accounting and finance.”
Now Chen is learning about what makes Madjax successful. The lessons Chen learns at Madjax are lessons that he’ll be able to use throughout his career.