J.C. Newman Appoints Aimee Cooks as General Manager of El Reloj

J.C. Newman has announced that it has appointed Aimee Cooks the new vice president and general manager of its El Reloj factory in Tampa, Fla., making her one of a handful of women in the cigar industry to hold such a title.

Cooks joined the company in 1997 as its director of human resources, expanding her role within the company a decade ago to include quality control. Now, she will be responsible for all the factory’s operations, including tobacco fermentation, cigar rolling, aging, and packing. She will also be responsible for the warehousing and shipping of imported J.C. Newman and Arturo Fuente cigars that are distributed from El Reloj.

“Aimee has been an important and trusted member of our family for more than two decades,” said Eric Newman, third-generation owner, and president of J.C. Newman in a press release. “Bobby, Drew, and I could not be happier that she is now leading El Reloj.”

In a press release, the company said it was through her role in human resources in which she worked with every employee in the company that she learned the skill and tradition of handcrafting cigars from the ground up, helping her become a cigar connoisseur and preparing her for this new role.

“I am honored to be named vice president and general manager of El Reloj and thank Eric, Bobby, and Drew for their confidence in me and to Stanford Newman who was my first mentor,” said Cooks via a press release. “I am grateful to other cigar industry colleagues, in particular, the women in our industry whom I have learned from throughout my career. I look forward to continuing working for the Newman family in the industry that I love.”

El Reloj was built in 1910 and is the last operating cigar factory in Tampa, producing more than 60,000 cigars per day between its handmade and hand-operated machine divisions. The factory is also home to a museum, interactive theater, and event space, and hosts guided factory tours on weekdays. There are also plans to open a rolling school in 2022, where cigar enthusiasts can learn to blend and roll their own cigars.