2 minute read
John Wilkinson
John
WILKINSON
John Wilkinson and his wife’s first time in Montana was a literal journey. He and his wife didn’t stay at an upscale resort, rather they were busy reenacting history. “We spent three weeks doing nothing but retracting the steps of Lewis and Clark,” he said. That experience made them fall in love with the state and in 1996 they bought a vacation home in Nye for the summers, before they eventually moved to Bozeman and ultimately came to live here year round. “Every summer we would have grandkid camp, and more and more we just loved it,” he said. Prior to their move to Montana, Wilkinson and his wife lived in Texas, but they spent much of their time together in southern California where the couple met and he had a business. Wilkinson was the founder and CEO of a textile company, Momentum Textiles, Inc. “I didn’t like working for other people, so I tried to be as creative as I could so I could be the boss,” he said. That effort allowed him and his staff to climb the ranks amongst their competitors and become an award-winning company. One business aspect that Wilkinson was particularly notable for was how he treated the women in his workforce. He made a point to pay women and men equally, which was not normal at the time. He also gave full pay and benefits to his female sales representative while they were on maternity leave, and personally called on their customers. “Treating our female employees as good as our males really paid off, and it’s something that I’m proud of,” he said. “Our employees loved us because the other companies didn’t do what we did.” Though now retired it’s hard to imagine he’s any less busy than he was while running a company. Through their church, the Bozeman United Methodist Church, he and his wife have become active volunteers across the community and beyond. “We just got involved with everything,” Wilkinson said. Along with his congregation he helps gather supplies for the Warming Center, donate gift cards to the homeless coordinator at the high school, serve meals at Fork and Spoon, host school supply drives and volunteer with the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. Along with his wife he also created and operates The Wilkinson Foundation, which supports a school in El Salvador, and has recently helped to raise money for them to purchase new computers after a flooding and supplies their library with books. Wilkinson said that his passion for humanitarian work comes from witnessing his parents and friends volunteer while he was young as well as his faith. “You’re supposed to love your neighbor and one of the ways to do that is by helping other people that can’t help themselves,” Wilkinson said. Giving back gives him “a good feeling” as well. “It’s actually quite joyful.”
