This article appeared in the November/December 2023 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.

Chief Financial Officer Sachiko Johnson has brought a fresh perspective to Jordan Manufacturing Company, which has helped the nearly 75-year-old company continue to grow and keep up with the modern workplace.

As its CFO and Human Resources Specialist, Johnson uses her diverse background, education, training and experience to help lead the company, which specializes in tooling, stamping and assembly and prides itself on being a powerful partner for other manufacturers throughout the state.

Giving Back

After meeting and getting married in Japan, Sachiko and Justin Johnson relocated to New York in 2005. In 2007, they moved to Michigan and took over Jordan Manufacturing, Justin’s family’s business, located in Belding in Ionia County.

“My position is CFO, but my role is Integrator,” Sachiko Johnson says. “The leadership dreams about something, and my job is to make that happen in a financially secured way.”

She says that before the pandemic began, they came up with the company’s core values, which are based on coworkers, customers, the community and continual improvement.

“The most difficult part for me was to figure out how we could give back to the community,” she says. “As a small company, we sometimes struggle financially, so we have a tendency to give back to our employees before we do something for the community. So that was my goal: to decide how to give back to the community.”

They started small, she says, by hosting a Staff Appreciation Day and donating about $200 at a local elementary school, which has a day care that some Jordan employees use for their children. Today, the company continues to give back to the community by sponsoring local festivals, charity runs and other events.

“We want to manufacture happiness, which is our passion, and we want to give back to people who work for us, the community we are in, builders and peers in the industry and even competitors,” Sachiko Johnson says. “We just want to give back to make the community better and make the world better.”

Employee-Centric Culture

Charles Korson, Director of Engineering and Operations at Jordan Manufacturing, says Sachiko Johnson always puts others before herself and their needs before her own.

“Sachiko has an unwavering dedication and selflessness to others, whether that is her family, a single visitor, an employee or the whole community,” he says.

Justin Johnson adds that Sachiko has created more of an employee-centric culture at the business, and her compassion has contributed to that environment.

“She’s a great listener. She’s not just ‘hearing’ you,” Johnson says. “She always tries to take into account what’s on your mind when she’s speaking to you. If employees have problems, if employees are struggling with things outside of work — personal problems, family problems, anything — she knows all that stuff, and that’s always the first thing out of her mouth.

“And it’s something that I’ve learned from her as well because I’ve always just stuck to the business: ‘How is work? How is business? How are things going?’ But she always finds time to show people that she’s thinking about them outside of work.”

As a successful woman in manufacturing, Sachiko Johnson says that she highly recommends that young women consider manufacturing careers.

From her experiences, she has learned that nearly every industry has the same core principles, she says.

“You communicate with people, and you take care of them nicely,” she says. “Manufacturing is not different. You can still be fun, and you can make people happy with the product you make.”

Justin Johnson says Sachiko is an “unsung hero” at Jordan and thought that nominating her for the MMA’s prestigious Woman of the Year Award would be a great opportunity to show her how much he and the team appreciate all that she does.

Due to her genuine compassion for the team, leadership skills and the impact she has had at Jordan Manufacturing and within the community, Sachiko Johnson is certainly a deserving recipient of the 2023 Manufacturing Woman of the Year Award.

The Manufacturing Woman of the Year award is part of the annual Manufacturing Excellence Awards which celebrates the leaders and products that are pushing the industry forward. Learn more about the awards program and gala.

The 2023 Manufacturing Woman of the Year award was sponsored by Clark Hill. Visit online: clarkhill.com.