Jeren Chandler

Special to the Democrat-Gazette

It was just supposed to be a summer job. I was studying at Arkansas Tech and wanted to earn a little extra cash.

I landed a position cutting sheet metal at the company where my dad has worked for years, Central States, a nationwide metal building products manufacturer headquartered in northwest Arkansas.

After that first summer, I went back to school for another year. The next summer, I returned ... and never left. I worked nights and continued my studies during the day. I worked my way up to a line lead position and then transitioned to sales.

Eleven years after starting full time, I'm still here. The main reason I stayed--and have no plan to leave--is because Central States is owned by its employees via an employee stock ownership plan,

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