Cocky Business: Through Honesty, Transparency and Service, Dewayne Bowen (‘93) is Helping Others Achieve Financial Success at Edward Jones

By Brittney Kimber

For Dewayne Bowen (‘93), financial planning has always been an interest. Before graduating from Jax State with a degree in business management, he had already started an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), taking advice from one of his finance professors.

“After graduation, I started in an entry-level management position for a large food manufacturing company and worked my way up to leading a 700-person manufacturing operation. It was a great career, but I always had an interest in financial planning, participating in the company's 401(k) and starting an IRA back in 1990,” Bowen said. “I remember Dr. Scroggins, a finance professor, told us during class if we could just invest $2,000 a year into an IRA, we'd be wealthy by retirement!”

Fast forward to 2003, and his plant near Wilmington, North Carolina, had shut down due to an incoming hurricane.

“I called my financial advisor and started talking about a career change and how he had affected so many lives with his practice,” Bowen said. “I opened up my Edward Jones office in Calhoun (Georgia) then (2004) and it's been a successful and wise decision on my part, not only financially, but from a quality of life and purpose standpoint as well.”

Edward Jones is a partnership fully owned by its associates and retirees, ranking No. 260 on the Fortune 500 list. Bowen and his team follow a five-step process to help clients focus on retirement planning, preparing for the unexpected, college savings strategies, and endowment/corporate retirement plans.  

“We want people to know they can trust us as fiduciaries who will always have their best interests in mind,” Bowen said. “The most important thing is to have a plan. It can be simple to start, but financial goals are very important to us all. Sometimes it's hard for young people to imagine being retired, but believe me, the time flies, and it's much better to be prepared and to follow your plan. While everyone is different, it's important to be mindful about debt, inflation, taxes, and the power of compounding.”

Bowen believes in hard work and says it is rewarding to help people reach their financial goals. “It's very rewarding when someone who's put in the work with us to meet their goals realizes they can retire comfortably or send their kids to a great college,” Bowen said. 

In 2023, Bowen made the "Circle of Success,” representing the top 15% of Edward Jones advisors (out of 20,000).

“Although the tools and technology have changed since I was in college, I still use many of the skills I learned back in the Merrill Building to develop and execute our business plan,” Bowen said. “Even some 35+ years later, I do still reach back for lessons from many classes in management, accounting, communications, and even algebra!”

He credits Jax State, specifically his involvement with the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, for helping prepare him.   

“The leadership lessons of being a Pi Kappa Phi officer, and around other brothers who were destined to do well in life, were a blessing I still see today,” Bowen said. “I communicate with many of my brothers, still.”

In 2022, Bowen, along with his Pi Kappa Phi brothers, formed a committee to help raise money for The Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts, reconnecting with dozens of alumni. After hard work and commitment, the lobby is named after Pi Kappa Phi, a testament to the fraternity brothers’ dedication of giving back and investing in Jax State and its future.

“I'm proud to say I'm a Jax State graduate,” Bowen said. “I always say my time at Jax State, and particularly my experience being in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, prepared me in ways that a larger university probably wouldn't have. I knew the JSU business school had a good reputation, and I felt a degree from there would allow me to do anything I wanted. I was right.”