About Llew Jones
Llew Jones, born 1962, is a candidate for reelction to House District 18. This House District is the northern 1/2 of Senate District 9 thus is an area that Senator Jones has represented in the past. Sen. Rick Ripley and Senator Jerry Black, both previous legislators from the area, endorsed Jones for this position. Jones is not new to Public Service. He has served six terms in the Montana House of Representatives and two terms in the Senate, fulfilling various leadership roles over the years. In addition, Jones spent six years as Alderman for the City of Conrad, served as Director and President for the Chamber of Commerce, is a founding member of the Pondera Port Authority, serves on the Board of Directors for Sweetgrass Development, and is currently one of the founding members and President of the Coalition for Common Sense Use.
Jones’s legislative focus is on the 4 Es: Economic Development, Energy, Education, and Environmentally responsible (common sense) multiple uses of Montana public lands. In past sessions, Jones has sponsored or cosponsored a significant portion of Montana’s fiscal policy, economic development legislation, energy legislation, and education innovation legislation. Jones has been recognized for his Legislative work by many organizations (see Awards on right side).
Llew was born in Helena, Montana. He was adopted by Edward and Marjorie Jones as an infant, and was raised in Conrad, Montana. Llew grew up working on a multi-generation family sheep, cattle, and farming operation. Llew has many stories of working in sheep camps, sleeping in old sheep wagons, lambing, calving, and farming as a youth. He vividly remembers raking hay with old 8N ford farm tractors, farming with old Case tractors, and herding sheep on foot, and with working dogs. He met his wife to be, Carole, when she moved to Conrad from Missoula in 1980 were they became high school sweethearts. Llew was active in sports, student government, FFA, and Honor Society in high school, graduating as Salutatorian in 1981.
Llew has a B.S. in Management and a Graduate Degree in Economics from Montana State University. Upon college graduation, he and his wife returned to the family farm in Conrad so that they could have an active role in the upbringing of their three sons, Eddie, Daniel and Aaron. They were blessed with the addition of a daughter, Dania, to their family in 2000. Over the following years, Llew continued his education earning a number of professional certifications including: Microsoft Certified System Engineer, Certified Novell Engineer, and Certified Cisco Professional. During that time, and with substantial help from his wife, Llew founded Jathco Systems, a successful computer consulting firm. In addition to Jathco and the family farm, the Joneses became active in a number of other small businesses including Pure Bliss Cycles (a Honda, Yamaha, and Polaris Powersports dealership) in 2004 and Frontline Ag (John Deere dealership) in 2005. Llew and Carole are past recipients of the Conrad Chamber of Commerce’s “Businessman of the Year” award. A favorite saying of Llew’s is, “I never take on more work than my wife can do”.
Llew and Carole (married 41 years) have always kept family at the center of their focus irrespective of where life has taken them. The Joneses had strict academic requirements for their children, believing that a good education is a first priority. They have also helped their children, and numerous others, excel in extracurricular activities. Llew was his sons’ wrestling and baseball coach and served as President of the Conrad Wrestling Club for many years. Llew also served as head coach and organizer for the Montana National Wrestling team. Llew and Carole are very proud of the fact that their three sons won multiple state wrestling championships, attended Harvard and Brown Universities, and are now actively engaged in professional careers while starting families of their own. The Joneses “focus on the family” continued with their daughter, Dania, who was a high school tennis state champion and a swim state champion. Llew and Carole founded a north central Montana gymnastics club, coached youth swimming, youth shooting sports, and were involved in youth girls’ basketball. Llew has mused that “Working with one daughter may be more challenging than working with three sons”. Dania has taken the family high academic expectations even further in that she received her two year college Associates Degree before she graduated from High School, and completed her undergraduate in 3 years. Dania is currently in her final year of law school at UM, on track to graduate with both A JD and an MBA. Llew and Carole have also actively coached all 7 of their grandchildren.
With a proven history in business, a strong family track record, and a "solutions track record" in public service, Llew is very excited about taking on the challenge of representing House District 18. He contends that his family first focus, his strong business, economic, and educational background, and his direct business experience, when combined with his experience as Chair of both Senate Finance and House Appropriations make him the right choice for the Montana Legislature and House District 18.