Allan Jones attended MTSU but left before graduating to join his father’s business, Cleveland Credit Bureau Services. He parlayed his financial services knowledge into establishing and serving as chairman of Check Into Cash Inc., a payday advance company with more than seven hundred installations nationwide. An avid wrestling enthusiast, he founded and financed the first Cleveland-Bradley County Wrestling Club. In 2001 he built a $1 million wrestling center on the campus of Cleveland High School. In Cleveland, however, he is best known for his work on environmental issues, having personally financed the planting of trees on city streets, playgrounds, and in city parks. He served on the board of the Tennessee Urban Forest Council and was honored by it as the 1994 Citizen Activist of the Year.
His lead gift ensured that the new intercollegiate swimming center could be built, and it is named for him.