Name
Eugene (Gene) Jones
Age
49
If you graduated from college, where did you go?
Florida State University
BS: Sales Management and Marketing
1984
How long have you lived in Tallahassee?
31 years.
Where do you work, what is your position there and how long have you worked for this company?
Southern Waste Information eXchange, Inc.
CEO
31 years.
Are you married? If so, how many children do you have?
Yes;four.
What brought you to your current job?
When I came to Tallahassee in 1981 to attend Florida State University, I began work in one of FSU's work study programs where Dr. Roy Herndon with FSU's Center for Biomedical and Toxicological Research had formed the Southern Waste Information eXchange (SWIX). SWIX is a nonprofit organization that acts as a matchmaker, putting generators of waste materials in touch with potential users to encourage the recycling and re-use of recovered materials.
Describe what you do?
I serve as the CEO for SWIX so I have administrative duties as well as serving as an informational specialist in the waste/recycling arena. I am a "waste matchmaker," putting generators of waste materials in touch with potential users to encourage the recycling and re-use of recovered materials.
What were you doing the last five years of your life?
Managing SWIX as well as organizing and conducting two large conferences in the recycling/waste arena: the Southeast Recycling Conference and Trade Show (http://www.southeastrecycling.org) and the Waste-to-Fuels Conference & Trade Show (http://www.waste-to-fuels.org).
I also volunteer time at Gallop's Karate where I am an instructor.
What do you want to do with your life long-term?
Continue having fun! I love what I do!I learned real quick that there is a business side to protecting the environment.Not only do we conserve resources, protect the environment, but we foster economic development by using recovered materials for various feedstocks, whether that be converting a waste material back into a new product or converting that material into a fuel or energy source.
I see myself in this job into my 70s as well as helping instruct kids in the martial arts.
What do you do in your free time?
I love the outdoors. Fishing and hunting are near and dear to my heart.
If you could be granted one wish right now, what would it be?
Finding more money to help fund projects like SWIX. There is so much that could be done with more money! I'd also help my wife (Dana) with her new nonprofit she just launched called Mother's for Mother Earth (http://www.m4me.org).M4ME mobilizes mothers and others around the world to work collaboratively to educate, implement, develop and support environmental programs that help keep our planet clean and green!My wife uses the analogy that we have all been told from an early age to eat breakfast, but very seldom have we been told why it is important to do so.The same can be said for recycling. Sure it helps with the environment as well as conserves energy, but there is the economic side we hardly ever hear about. Florida hosts approximately 3,700 recycling and re-use establishments that employ 32,000 people with an estimated $765 million in payroll. This industry produces $4.4 billion in annual revenue.
What would you change about Tallahassee and/or the Capitol if you could?
I love Tallahassee!Since coming here in 1981, I've never wanted to leave. The only thing I would change would be to bring in more commercial and industrial developments. We are too reliant on government and the universities. I've seen too much talent over the years leave this great town of ours for other locations because we do not have the industry to support them. We can do both -- maintain our great town, its canopy roads full of gorgeous trees, as well as help this town prosper by laying out a foundation to bring in new industry and economic growth. I think it was Napolean Hill that said, "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." I believe we can do both!
