Sheldon, Iowa — A homegrown businessman, who is known worldwide for being a master creative practitioner, has come back to his hometown of Sheldon.
Jeffrey A. Stamp is an individual who is best known for many things, but residents may know him for some of his inventions. For example, Stamp was the one who created “Baked Lays” for PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division. He also the Section Manager for their Baked Lay’s branch. Stamp has been all around the world, but he says that Sheldon holds a special place in his heart.
Stamp had first moved to Sheldon when he was just in the third grade.
(as said) “So we moved here, I was in the third grade, and it was interesting.” Says Stamp, “By the time I got in the class, everybody knew everybody else because they had been together since kindergarten, and so I had to learn which group of students are you gonna get into, right? Which pack, and quickly, it was neat. I grew up on 9th street, down by Washington Ave. so I lived right on the main drag, and everybody drives by your house all the time. So it was a quintessential, sort of, American story. You sit on the front step in the Summertime…”
Stamp continued through the Sheldon school system and talks about his time in high school, and how he was inspired to be successful.
(as said) “We had amazing teachers back in those days, in the ’70s and ’80s. I graduated in 1978 from high school, and we had an amazing group of teachers that just said ‘hey, you can do whatever you want to do.’ So…”
Stamp continues on by talking about how he went to the University of Minnesota, and what he wanted to do with his education moving forward.
(as said) “I went to the University of Minnesota for ten years. I did all my degrees, so I have a bachelor’s degree and two Ph.D.’s from the University of Minnesota. I’m a scientist, so my degrees are in chemistry and applied mathematics. So, I spent my time, you know I grew up in an agricultural area, so when it came time to be a scientist, I wanted to work on food. I thought it would be fun to move up the food chain a little bit and say, ‘Gosh we grow all this corn and soybeans. Where does it end up?’.”
Stamp says it was interesting to learn that there is a difference between the sweet corn that ends up on people’s plates at dinner time and the field corn that is turned into corn starch among other things. He then continues to talk about how he came about to work for Frito-Lay.
(as said) “…And so then I got a chance. I worked at General Mills for about four years, and then I got a really big break.” explains Stamp, “I was speaking at a conference about the need for low-fat foods, and a guy came up to me and he was a vice-president at Frito-Lay, down in Dallas, Texas, and he says to me, ‘How would you like to be the director of a brand new division?’, and I went, ‘Director of a division? That sounds pretty awesome.’ So I said ok.”
Stamp then spent five years at Frito-Lay. It’s there that he created Baked Lays, Baked Tostitos, Baked Doritos, and Baked Cheetos among other things. Stamp says it was interesting and fun to grow up in agriculture his whole life and see that side of it, but then to be able to contribute to it.
Stamp then talks about what happened after his time at Frito Lay.
(as said) “So then after I spent time in cooperate life, I decided to go back and be an educator. So now I teach at the University of Minnesota, and I’m back at the university I went to school, and I teach entrepreneurship. So I help students, like myself, who have great ideas and say, ‘What would you like to do to create a new business?’, and we help students see their vision of things they can do and what is possible.”
Stamp then concludes saying that Sheldon was a wonderful place to grow up. He also gives some advice to students.
(as said) “I think growing up in Sheldon, if you’re a student or if you have kids in the school system here. To me, a big part of education just isn’t simply memorizing more things out of a book, it’s about how to answer questions, how to make decisions, and how to figure out what is possible.”
Stamp says that Sheldon still has a ton of potential to grow and get bigger, so he urges students to go explore the world but to also take time to come back and see what they can do to help their community.
