Local business celebrates 20th birthday

This year, Jason Blackstock marks the 20th anniversary of opening his UPS business in Spring Hill. He describes the store as offering “a little bit of everything,” which includes shipping, a wide range of printing services, passport photos, notary services, office supplies, mailboxes, and more. He’s seen many changes in the shipping business over the past two decades. 

“Due to e-commerce, it’s night and day from where we started to where we are now,” he says. “There was some of it in the beginning, but now you’ve got every company out there that has an online presence and is shipping to you. And then the returns, we do so many returns now.”

As a result, things tend to stay busy, but they get the job done thanks to a solid team. 

“My managers’ great; I’ve got great staff,” he says. “I love my guys to death.”

As the shipping industry has evolved, so, too, has Spring Hill. Blackstock has watched as it go from a small, quiet spot to one of the fastest-growing cities in Tennessee. 

“Yeah, in fact, when we opened in 2003, they told us Spring Hill wasn’t big enough for a store. Things have definitely changed.”

He’s enjoyed watching his business grow right along with his community. One positive aspect of owning his UPS franchise has been the daily interaction with customers. 

“That’s what I like best. Probably 30 to 40 percent of my business is my regulars. We have people we see every other day or so, others every week or every other week, and then we have a lot of mailbox customers we get to know very well. We don’t go anywhere in Spring Hill that we don’t run into someone we know from the store.”

That sense of community means a lot to Blackstock. About six years ago, he joined Maury County Fire and Rescue as a volunteer firefighter, which turned out to be extremely rewarding. 

“I actually have a neighbor that’s my chief,” he recalls. “And he kept saying, ‘Come try this; you might like it.’ I put him off for a year, but he finally convinced me to just come and check it out.”

It turns out District Chief Peder Jensen was right. Blackstock started off with a beginner support class and has never looked back.

“I had a great group of guys around me that were going through the class, and I thought, I’ll stay and see what happens. I have loved it ever since.”

He says it’s meaningful time well-spent from the brotherhood he shares with his fellow firefighters to the personal satisfaction of doing something that makes a difference.

“I enjoy hanging out with my other firefighters and knowing they have my back at all times. If you go into a fire, you don’t do it alone; you have people behind you. And I enjoy the satisfaction you get when you’ve done something that saved somebody’s property or helped save someone’s life. It’s a sense of accomplishment in knowing you did something to help someone else.”

He’s grateful to have found a balance and sense of purpose with a full-time job running a successful business that serves the community in one way, and volunteer work that serves it in another.  

“It’s all very rewarding,” he says.

For more information see the UPS ad at: https://online.fliphtml5.com/knog/ibwv/#p=12