As tax season in the U.S. comes to a close, it brings to mind the faces working with our finances across the state. One of those people is Jessica Helmick, senior investment coordinator through the Missouri State Treasurer's Office.
The treasurer's office serves as the state's chief financial officer, protecting taxpayers, staying accountable with an open government portal, overseeing programs that distribute loans and create financial plans, and more. Specifically, investment specialists determine the number of funds not needed for current state expenses and invest those funds. Working with finances and numbers requires accuracy, consistency and dedication - something Helmick was noticed for in her work performance early on.
She never saw herself working in investments, but in the wide variety of her previous jobs - retail, house painter, a certified carpentry masonry specialist through the U.S. Army and a bridal consultant, to name a few - Helmick enjoyed the "sense of accomplishment in putting in 110 percent" to those jobs.
She said a pivot in careers brought her to investments. While working in the pricing division in retail, the department laid off the entire team, so Helmick started as a temp in the unclaimed property division of the treasurer's office. Five promotions and 81/2 years later, she became the senior investment coordinator in September 2020.
"I've loved every job I had," she said. "I think (the treasurer's office) saw I am reliable and a hard worker, and was willing to take on any position I was given."
Investment coordinators move with the markets, as they close at 4 p.m. weekdays, so Helmick's day starts no later than 7 a.m.
She begins by working closely with the banking division, which sends the number of funds to invest each day. The investments team run reports, update state dashboards, send data from the state and researches it further to send to websites, and all the while is facilitating cash - sometimes she helps move $2 billion in cash daily.
"It's very important that we're all diligent with our work," she said. "You want to make sure everything is done precisely. The timing and precision of our work is important because it makes (departments' jobs down the line) easier."
In her senior investment position, Helmick invests in repurchase agreements with the goal of earning the highest possible return for the state while making sure those funds stay safe. She is also a Tableau specialist and takes the data given through the software to create visualization software for those numbers for pages like the Show-Me Checkbook - this helps the public to see datasets more easily, she said.
As with many governmental departments, Helmick has experienced late work nights, normally toward the end of the fiscal year - if the night stretches into 6 p.m., it's late for her. But as with every daily task, diligence is important for Helmick. Through COVID-19, she has worked on transparency measures, updated spending dashboards and figured out how to invest in state projects.
Transparency is one aspect Helmick hopes Missourians experience through the treasurer's office and through her position as senior investment coordinator.
"I've learned so much in this position," she said. "Citizens have the right to know how their money is spent If they can go and check out (current numbers), they can dig deeper on how the government spends its money."