2022 Southwest Woman Executive of the Year Six years in, her impact has been immediate, far reaching ‘Thereisn’t any doubt about the level of commitment that she has’ to BGC

by Jack R. Jordan / content creator

Rosemary Jones, The Shelby Report of the Southwest’s 2022 Woman Executive of the Year, has a long history of connecting with the local community. She finds it to be some of the most important work she has done throughout her three decades in Tyler, Texas.

In that same vein, Brookshire Grocery Co. also prides itself on being a pillar of the community. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that the company and Jones, its EVP, chief people officer/legal, have been such a great fit over the past six years.

Jones’ previous career as a private practice attorney in labor law had established her among Tyler’s leaders. Through the years, she has held leadership roles in many professional and civic organizations.

“She was always involved with our education and human resource committee,” said Henry Bell, president of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce. “She was involved in human resources most of her career before she went on to Brookshire’s HR.”

Bell, who has known Jones for about 25 years, has immense respect for Jones and her dedication to the community. Her passion professionally and civically is obvious.

“Besides being involved with us, which has her involved much with the local community, she was involved in other various activities. I would say many were business education related…she never stops working,” Bell said.

“It was like the Lord was opening my eyes to that area,” Jones said. “We had pulled that policy out and we had already begun hearing about COVID-19 coming. We thought, ‘Wait a minute. We should really start getting ahead of this.’ We put in a lot of time, money and effort into developing our procedures for handling COVID. Brad and the whole executive team were so supportive…we were pretty much ready to go when it hit.”

Jones and the rest of the executive team made the quick decision to provide COVID pay to their partners. That included sick leave, appreciation pay and other bonuses.

“She was a big advocate for that,” Brookshire said of Jones. “She and the rest of the executives wanted to make sure their partners were covered.”

According to Jones, BGC and the Brookshire family have always been big supporters of their people and giving back to the community.

“They make a big deal about giving back to the communities where we serve,” she said. “And it is a priority for us to give back in our communities. I’m just one of many that serve out in the community.”

“When I work with volunteers, I work with some who will provide leadership and then some who are what I call ‘grunt workers,’ who will be out on the front lines setting up things. She runs the full game. There isn’t any doubt about the level of commitment that she has. She’s very tenacious.”

Much like Bell, BGC CEO Brad Brookshire had known Jones long before she came to work for the grocery chain. To him, it was a bit surprising when the previous head of HR recommended Jones as her successor. When Jones came aboard, Brookshire wanted her help to shift the culture within the corporate office. She began with small changes, such as making the work environment more relaxed.

Along with the culture shift, Jones had a hand in creating or adjusting many programs within BGC. Within her first year as EVP, she helped revamp the benefits program, which saved the company an estimated $3 million.

Then, while attending a risk management meeting with the company’s board of directors in December 2019, the idea of a pandemic policy surfaced. The policy in place at the time was outdated. Fast forward a few months and an actual pandemic hit.

Cares about BGC, its people, those around her

“I think Rosemary’s very deserving of this [honor]. I think it’s a great recognition for her in terms of what she’s done to make a big transition in a career going from law – a practicing attorney – to an executive of a company. That takes a very different skill set. And I think she’s adapted to that very well…she cares about the company, the people and those around her.”

The company made a nearly $33 million investment in employee wages throughout the pandemic. At the same time, BGC confronted many of the same challenges – supply chain woes and labor shortages – that the grocery industry at large is facing.

To combat this, Jones and her team held hiring events throughout the pandemic to bring aboard new partners, according to a September 2020 article by The Tyler Morning Telegraph.

In February 2021, while still in the throes of the pandemic, Winter Storm Uri knocked out power and made roads impassable across much of the state. But that didn’t stop Jones or the rest of BGC.

“We had four-wheel drive pickup trucks with about 40 leaders and family members