As the owner of a multi-million dollar company with more than 100 employees providing stucco and stonework statewide, Palatka, Florida resident Johnathan (Jody) Strange never envisioned he would ever be receiving reemployment benefits.
But hiring issues with some of his employees came with challenges from federal agencies, which proved too much for him to continue operating his company.
“It was killing me,” said Strange, who had been in business for about 20 years. “Finally, in 2023, my wife said, ‘you’re done,’ took my contractor’s license and cut it up with scissors.”
While he had money, Strange said “I wasn’t making any,” and his sister in Fleming Island suggested he contact FloridaCommerce and sign up for benefits.
“I figured I might as well receive unemployment because I’ve paid into it my whole life, and my sister lived near the CareerSource Northeast Florida office in Clay County, so I signed up there,” he said.
Since he was a resident in Palatka, he soon received a call from Putnam County Career Center Workforce Representative Kim Reynolds.
“That’s how it all started,” he said. “I met with Kim at the career center and afterward she would call and email me about potential jobs. She was great.”
Finally, one of the jobs panned out to be a complete match for his construction management experience when he was hired in May of 2025 by Hendricks Stucco, where he’s now a full-time project manager working out of the company’s facility in Middleburg, Florida.
“I’m the project manager over all his jobs and supervising all the superintendents on the company’s job sites,” Strange said.
Ironically, Strange said that when he owned his previous company, Hendrix Stucco was one of his biggest competitors.
“Over the years, me and (Jimmy) Hendricks would bid against each other and, of course, I didn’t like him at the time because he was a major competitor,” Strange said. “Finally, I called him and I found out he’s an ordained minister, a cowboy and probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. It’s a small world.”
Strange said he only has good things to say about his experience with CareerSource NEFL.
“I was very apprehensive because through my whole life I’ve made my own way and made my own money, and being the owner of a business that size was tough to leave,” he said. But the people at the office in Fleming Island were very nice and helpful, and then when I got with Kim, she was awesome. I remember I would get frustrated working on the Putnam County Career Center’s computers and she’d be right there to help me every step of the way.”