3M’s Leslie keynotes Farragut Rotary Club
Jason Leslie, plant manager for 3M Manufacturing Supply Chain Services, said his company might be more popular as a place for millennials to work than Google.
Leslie spoke to Rotary Club of Farragut Wednesday, June 15.
He said a recent survey, published in Forbes, reported 3M was the No. 1 company for which millennials wanted to work.
“We bumped Google off their throne, which they’ve enjoyed too many years … To bounce Google off a platform like that is quite a substantial feat for a little company from Saint Paul, Minn.,” Leslie said.
While 3M’s plant is in Clinton, it would make an impact on Farragut, he said. After his talk, Leslie spoke to the Rotary Club members about the particular impact it has in terms of jobs.
He said several members of the plant’s team commuted from Farragut.
“The most direct impact would be that Farragut is a community that we will attract a lot of em-ployees from as the years go on,” he said.
He said people interested in applying for work with 3M should go to the careers page of 3M.com and search for Clinton.
He said 3M also had facilities in Midway and Nashville.
“We’d be interested in engineering disciplines, supply chain background, manufacturing operators. In particular, we’re interested right now in maintenance employees,” Leslie said.
While he would not say the particular products manufactured at his plant, he said 3M in general had a large presence with area retailers. He cited Kroger and WalMart.
The Clinton plant had 25 employees, and was on the path to have 100, Leslie said.
“It’s pretty easy to walk through big box stores like that and spot entire sections devoted entirely to 3M, whether it’s furnace filters or sections of tape or abrasives,” he said.
While Leslie would not name the particular products manufactured at his plant, he said 3M, in general, has a large presence with area retailers, citing Kroger and Walmart, and it manufactures many different kinds of products.
He said 3M manufactures many different products. Its adhesives included not just consumer ones, such as Scotch tape and Post-It notes, but also it includs adhesives that held airplanes together. He said 3M also made stethoscopes.
And, Leslie talked about a 3M multi-layer optical film that is 95 percent reflective.
“Most likely in every one of your laptops, your smartphones and your big screens at home,” he said. The company made screens brighter while consuming less energy.
“In the world of portable electronics, it’s everything,” he said. He also said 3M manufactures gold masks for astronauts.
“What 3M is particularly good at is sharing technology across all of its operating divisions all around the world,” Leslie said.
