Executive-in-Residence Celebrates 40 Years

On March 26, Northampton Community College (NCC) held their 40th annual Hal Shaffer Memorial Executive-in-Residence program, highlighting David Shaffer and Chip and Sam Jett of Just Born Quality Confections 

President of NCC, David A. Ruth, Ph.D., opened the fireside chat with the executives, saying, “What better way to celebrate 40 years with something we all enjoy, sweets! We all get a smile on our face when we see the Peeps mobile.” He noted that in the 40 years since the start of the program, NCC has connected students, staff, and community with some of the area's most successful business leaders.  

The program was made possible by an endowment established by Cecile and Jack Shaffer in memory of their late son, Hal. What made this year’s Executive-in-Residence particularly impactful was the fact that Hal’s brother, David, was one of the executives.  

"When my brother passed away, I didn’t know what to do. I came to study at NCC to rejuvenate my love of school,” said David Shaffer, executive chair of Just Born and NCC Class of ‘77 alum. 

Shaffer was joined by his daughter and the company’s Chief Impact Officer, Sam Jett, and by his son-in-law and the company’s CEO, Chip Jett.  

Values in the Workplace

Just Born was founded in 1923 in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Bethlehem in 1932. The candy haven manufactures Mike and Ike®, Hot Tamales®, and Teenee Beanee® jellybeans as well as Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews® and Peeps® brand marshmallows. At over 100 years old, it's the 10th largest candy company in the United States. That type of longevity and success doesn’t happen by chance. One way the multi-generational family business has continued to thrive all these years is by commitment to its core values.  

“Surround yourself with good people with shared values,” said Sam. “We value community, and we believe in Bethlehem, the Lehigh Valley, and helping someone every day.”  

To make the company run smoothly, culture is top of the list. “Every person needs to live it every day,” said Chip. “We need to have communication at all levels. Celebrate the good people do, and acknowledge what is being done wrong and how to correct it. You have to infuse knowledge from workers and their external experience into what you do at your company for growth. We care about our workers and consider them a part of our family.” To ensure a new candidate is compatible with their team, Chip said they’ve learned to expand the interview process. They spend as much time as possible with interviewees to make sure they're a good fit. 

Chip passed along advice to the students in the audience for when they begin interviewing for their career. “Do research on who you're going to talk to before you interview. With LinkedIn, you can dig into someone who will be supervising you. Research a company's values and their website. Make sure everything that they stand for aligns with what you value.” 

Something they’ve learned over the years is that having a small family to share the business with has its perks. “When you have a big family of a hundreds of people with different voices, it may not all align. So that's lucky for us. We were aligned as to what success looks like. Multi-generational success is about impact. We create the best jobs, and then, growth and financial success will come,” said Sam. 

The Road to Just Born

Shaffer is the second generation in the Just Born family and has spent 50 years with the company. He studied business at NCC and finance at Penn State University with big plans to overhaul the company’s finances when he started at Just Born. "That didn’t happen,” he said, finding humor in being green at the time. “Instead, I learned discipline and how to manage myself well and not get frustrated when things don’t go as expected. I learned a lot on the job.” 

Chip studied finance much like his father-in-law, and he continued on to law school. “I worked as a lawyer for a while, and then, I moved into banking. When I met Sam, it was a blessing for more than one reason. Being incorporated into this family business has been amazing.” Chip feels that having a background in multiple fields can help you bring unique perspectives to a new role.  

Sam began her career in the arts, working for Christie’s Impressionist and Modern Art department in New York City. She worked in the auction room and grew within the organization. Eventually, she landed at the Museum of Modern Art. Her advice for students just starting out is, “Take your first shot, even if it's not where you want to be yet.” She eventually got her master's in business administration to come home to Just Born. 

Learning to Adapt

With new generations, come new ideas. Just Born has evolved its strategies to meet the needs of their consumers. Company evolution requires respect from prior generations to allow change to happen, said Sam. For example, when they started utilizing social media more than billboards to drive interest and market to their customers, everyone was on board. 

Shaffer has seen a lot of change in his time at the company. 

In 1953, it took 26 hours to make Peeps. Now, it takes only three minutes because of automation, allowing the company to be more efficient. With more automation, Just Born needed to change roles at the company to adapt. “They are more technical now, but we won’t see a time when we don’t need our workers for a high-quality product,” Chip said. 

The company used to ship products to 50 countries in nine different languages, but that wasn’t sustainable. So, they used their resources in the United States to grow their domestic sales. Just Born still ships products to a few places internationally, like Canada, but for many other countries, the company uses distributors.  

Today, Just Born products compete with other items at similar price points, not just candy. Sam said, “At Easter time, one of the times of year we see the most demand for our products, consumers aren’t just buying candy anymore to fill an Easter basket. They can get a trinket, a small toy, socks, and more to fill a basket for around the same cost. So, we compete with things that are priced similarly, not just candy.” The company has adapted to their consumers’ buying behaviors, and they’ve spent a lot of time and resources to research and meet the needs of the public. 

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At the end of the program, the Just Born executives were presented with a Hampton Winds gift basket filled with delicious treats that NCC culinary students prepared. The Alumni Association Board approved an annual scholarship of $1,000 in the name of each year’s Executive-in-Residence, and the executives were moved to be the first to have the honor.  

David’s biggest piece of advice? “Life and business is fluid. You never know what's going to hit you the next day, so, you have to roll with it.” This is an approach that has kept his business thriving for over 100 years.