BUSINESS

It's Chai Time

Jewish News selects
five young professionals
under age 36
for our first annual
Double Chai honors.

JOEL JACOB

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Celia Lakofsky had the same
message for her grandson every
time he came to visit: "Do good
business. Give tzedakah. Buy
kosher meat."
Joel Jacob took her words to
heart. And then some.
He keeps a kosher home,
learns with a rabbi and is active
at Congregation Shaarey
Zedek.
He has initiated, and is
involved with, more than a
dozen charitable organizations
and institutions like JARC, the

Michigan Cancer Founda-
tion, the Jewish Federation,
the United Way, Hebrew Uni-
versity and Bar-Ilan Universi-
ty.
And he is a successful busi-
nessmen with M. Jacob & Sons,
a Southfield-based bottle man-
ufacturer started by his great-
grandfather in 1882. Clients
include K-Mart. Joel Jacob got
the account. He really loves the
work. "Our bottles," he says en-
thusiastically, "are used for
everything from automotive
chemicals to fudge."
It's working with that kind
of diverse need — "constantly
switching gears," is the way he
describes it — that has helped

develop Mr. Jacob's creativity
in other areas.
The consummate business-
social welfare matchmaker, he
recently paired a sharp, young
immigrant from the Soviet
Union with a major business
planning to expand in Russia.
Looking for workers to assem-
ble the bottles manufactured at
M. Jacob & Sons, he turned to
the Jewish Vocational Service.
Through his Detroit Business
Initiatives, he pairs young fu-
ture entrepreneurs with estab-
lished businessmen, many of
them from the Jewish commu-
nity.
"These are kids who had
just been written off," he says
of the DBI participants. Now
they're reading the Wall
Street Journal, starting their
own businesses and learning
the ins and outs of trading
stocks.
Mr. Jacob's message to DBI
participants and other budding
CEOs is always the same: work
hard, give the customer good
service, and give back to the
community.
Bar-Ilan University's Les
Goldstein says Mr. Jacob gives
more than his share back to the
community. He describes Mr.
Jacob as "a model for caring,
compassionate concern. He is
deeply committed to the far
more demanding personal de-
livery of services, in addition to
seeing that funds are provided
for them."
Mr. Jacob says he is simply
a man who likes to motivate
others. "The greatest thing you
can do is help people help them-
selves," he says.
Mr. Jacob's first volunteer
work was more than 10 years
ago, when he began making de-
liveries for JARC. He thinks his
other grandmother, Sophie Ja-
cob, would approve.
"She was a founder of the
Tzedakah Club, visiting the
mentally and physically dis-
abledyears ago, being an advo-
cate when no one else would
listen," he says.
"With JARC, I thought, This
is a continuation of what our
family always felt was impor-
tant.' And when the first JARC
home opened, I remember
thinking, 'My grandmother
(were she alive) would have
been right here."

PAMELA LIF'PrIT

JENNIFER FINER
STAFF WRITER

If necessary, Pamela Lippitt
of Southfield will shift her
schedule to accommodate her
business and volunteer com-
mitments.
Because Ms. Lippitt, 34, runs
her own direct-mail company,
called Mail-eze, she can often
get her work done early in the
morning or late at night if she
has to attend a meeting or spe-
cial function.
"I always find time," she said.
"I'll adjust my schedule to make
everything fit. You just make it
work. I don't know what the key
is."
In addition to working full-
time, Ms. Lippitt is president of
the Detroit Friends of Alyn Hos-
pital of Jerusalem, which she
describes as her passion.
"I've been to Alyn Hospital (a
children's orthopedic and reha-
bilitation hospital) a few times,
and the work they do is won-
derful. You can really see how
they change a child's life," Ms.
Lippitt said.
"If an organization or service
appeals to me, or if there is a
place I have special connections

to, I like to help out. The cause
always gets to me and I like to
see people do things that make
a difference."
Ms. Lippitt also serves in the
Community Services Division
of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, is in-
volved with the Business and
Professional Women's Division
of Federation and serves on the
board of Fresh Air Society. She
has also been on the executive
board of the Young Adult Di-
vision of Federation for the past
four years and is helping with
an upcoming political campaign
for an out-of-state friend.
"Pam is able to combine her
job, which she got off the
ground, and her dedication to
the community and she works
very hard at what she does,
whether its Federation, the
business or Friends of Alyn
Hospital," said her friend
Sharon Cohen.
Seven years ago, Ms. Lippitt
started her mail-management
business, where she manages
the data bases of several com-
panies and sends out their di-
rect mail advertising. Her
clients include independent re-
tailers, nonprofit organizations,
mall associations and profes-
sional corporations.

