Montclair Hall of Famer Jeffrey Johnson ’81 Leads with Ambition and Entrepreneurial Spirit

From Basketball to Boardroom

Are great entrepreneurs born, or made? If the life and career of Jeffrey Johnson ’81 are any indication, it's a little of both.

“My grandparents had a landscaping business,” Johnson says. “I was pushing a lawnmower by the time I was eight years old! The other workers would tease me about how hard I worked, but I was more interested in learning how to run the business.”

Johnson's grandmother, however, had her eye on a college degree for her grandson.

“She closed the business after my grandfather passed,” Johnson recalls. “I was in high school by that time, playing basketball and getting scholarship offers.”

The Montclair basketball coaches who attended every one of his senior-year games at Passaic High School made a compelling case.

“I had talent and drive, but there was a good chance that if I joined a Division I program, I would have very limited playing time in the beginning. Montclair could give me the opportunity to play right away. That was important to me.”

And play he did.

Johnson was a four-year starter, captaining the team for two of those years. A Small School All-American, Johnson helped build the foundation for the men's basketball program's strong run in the early 1980s.

Johnson ranks ninth in single-season scoring average in program history, with 21.6 points per game during the 1979–80 campaign. The 197 field goals he made that year placed him 12th for a single season, and his performance earned him First Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) honors.

Johnson finished his collegiate career with 1,227 points, ranking 11th on Montclair State University's all-time scoring list as of March 2026. Notably, he achieved that accomplishment before the introduction of the three-point shot in college basketball.

His career scoring average of 16.6 points per game over 74 games ranks ninth in program history. Johnson finished his career shooting 49 percent from the field, with 411 rebounds, 58 assists, 70 steals and 39 blocks. The Red Hawks, then known as the Indians, won 42 games during his four years at Montclair, including 24 within conference play.

Johnson brought the same hard work and determination he demonstrated on the basketball court to his academic pursuits.

“I was pretty intimidated at first,” he says. “I didn't know if my high school education had prepared me for college-level studies.”

He started out as a liberal arts major, but meeting fellow student Gregory Collins ’79, who would later serve as Chair of the Montclair State University Foundation Board of Trustees, inspired him to consider accounting.

“Greg was a couple of years ahead of me,” Johnson says. “He was a co-op student in accounting, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”

Johnson eventually switched to management, but he stayed on as a co-op student, choices that set him on the path to business success.

“My co-op was with the IRS,” Johnson says. “I was a revenue officer, but I really wanted to be a special agent. That would have given me the ability to carry a weapon, which I thought would be very cool.”

In 1986, however, Johnson joined the sales team at Scriptex Enterprises, a business equipment company. When he had exhausted the opportunities available at Scriptex, Johnson took on the role of Director of National Accounts at Ricoh USA.

There, Johnson demonstrated his leadership abilities. When tasked with reducing the sales staff by half to address underperformance, he took a different approach, choosing instead to coach and develop his team to achieve greater success. Over the next few years, his leadership contributed to an increase of more than 100 percent in sales revenue.

Johnson was subsequently recruited back to Northern Business Systems (formerly Scriptex Enterprises) as Executive Vice President, where he brought together the experience and leadership skills he had developed throughout his career. Drawing on his background in sales, national account management, team development and business operations, he helped transform Northern Business Systems into one of the largest independent business equipment dealerships in the Northeast.

Johnson's success soon caught the attention of Morse Business Machines, a smaller business equipment company, where he was recruited as Executive Vice President and acquired a 10-percent ownership interest.

Drawing on his extensive experience in sales, leadership and business management, Johnson founded MBM Business Systems and expanded the company through strategic acquisitions, bringing other businesses together under the MBM name.

As President and CEO, Johnson has successfully guided the company through more than two decades of growth and economic uncertainty, including the 2008 financial crisis and the lasting challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The way we do business continues to evolve,” Johnson reflects.

“Montclair inspired me to pursue management,” Johnson says, reflecting on more than three decades of managing people and businesses. “But being an entrepreneur enables you the freedom to do things your own way. It became my goal to do a better job of managing than I had experienced as an employee. I want to use my role as a leader to change people's lives for the better.”

Since graduating from Montclair, Johnson has been generous in bringing that perspective to his alma mater, serving on the Montclair State University Foundation Board of Trustees for nearly two decades, helping to establish the Black Alumni Advisory Council and maintaining close relationships with his fraternity brothers from Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

“I began by advocating for expanding the University's athletics programs and facilities and for providing more support for our athletes,” he says. “That resulted in a golf outing to raise funds for athletics.”

Upon learning that students were struggling to buy books and food, he pressed for funds to support these needs as well through initiatives like the Red Hawk Pantry.

“Montclair was, and still is, a place where first-generation college students like me can get a great education,” he says. “When we all come together to support Montclair, we can ensure that this remains true going forward.”

“That's why one of our assignments as Foundation trustees is to bring alumni back to Montclair,” Johnson continues. “We have a fascinating story to tell about how this institution has grown — dramatically — while remaining true to our mission. And there are so many ways a Montclair graduate can make a difference in a student's life.”

Johnson's induction into the Montclair Athletics Hall of Fame marks another milestone in a remarkable journey that includes success as a college basketball player, business leader and entrepreneur, and nearly two decades of dedicated service to the University.

But if you ask Johnson about his favorite Montclair memories, he might instead point to handing his son, Jeffrey Johnson Jr. ’11, ’14 MA, his Montclair diploma.

“It was such an exciting moment, both of us on stage in our academic regalia,” he says with pride.

“This campus offers so many opportunities and so many avenues to explore,” Johnson adds. “It is my hope that we can encourage every student to take full advantage of all that Montclair has to offer.”