William J. Jones is a former chairman of Cummins American Corporation, where he served 29 years as CEO of his 40 years with the then privately held manufacturing company headquartered in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. He retired in 2019. Cummins American designs, manufactures, and distributes high-tech commercial currency and check processing equipment such as coin sorters, coin wrappers, currency counters, currency sorters, as well as currency and check scanners and ATM’s which are used by banks, governments, casinos, armored carriers, and retailers around the world.  These products help to count, sort, and authenticate U.S. and foreign currencies. 

Established in 1887, Cummins American maintains its headquarters and manufacturing facilities on a 30-acre campus in Mt. Prospect, Illinois a suburb of Chicago.  All the Company’s products are designed, and more than 80% of its products are manufactured, in the United States.  The Company has more than 50 directly owned sales and service branch offices/warehouses staffed by company employed sales and service representatives throughout America, and wholly-owned subsidiaries in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.  Cummins American products are also sold and serviced through an extensive sales and service dealer network in more than 70 countries throughout the world.

Bill Jones joined Cummins American in 1979 and soon thereafter distinguished himself as an inventor.  He currently holds more than 100 patents issued by the United States Patent Office.  Most of these patents revolve around the processing and authentication of U.S. and foreign coin and paper currency.  Bill became President of the Company in 1990 and Chairman of the Company in 1994. Under his leadership Cummins American has been recognized as a leader in patent quality and innovation in the Chicago area.

A highly respected spokesperson on issues impacting American manufacturers, Jones has testified before Congress on America’s trade imbalance, the risks of outsourcing, and the importance of American manufacturing.  Mr. Jones is committed to the promotion of government policies that will foster innovation and a strong domestic industrial base in order to maintain our nation’s high standard of living, world leadership in technology, and national defense.

Mr. Jones has served as Chairman of the Washington, D.C. based United States Business & Industry Council, a leading trade organization representing privately held American manufacturers.  In addition, he was a fellow of the George H. Gallup Institute, a diverse group of American leaders who work to discover, test, and apply new solutions to social problems.  He is president and a trustee of the Jones Family Trust, which provides college scholarships to minority students who reside in the City of Chicago.  He is also a member of Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Illinois.

Mr. Jones received a B.S. in finance (1979) from Northern Illinois University where he graduated magna cum laude with honors and was designated the school’s Lincoln Scholar by the Governor of Illinois.   Bill has also received an MBA in Management (1981) from Northwestern University.  He lives in suburban Chicago with his wife of more than 30 years and has two children.