R-331 Page 1 of 1
2024
No. R-331. House concurrent resolution congratulating the JK Adams Co. of Dorset on its 80th anniversary.
(H.C.R.252)
Offered by: Representative Rice of Dorset Whereas, JK Adams, Dorset’s largest employer, was established on December 31, 1944,
when founder Josiah Knowles Adams held an organizational directors’ meeting at
Barrow’s House Inn in Dorset, and Whereas, this Vermont firm “designs, manufactures and markets a line of customizable,
functional, and high-quality wood products for the kitchen and home,” and Whereas, central themes for JK Adams are “rooted in nature, crafted for the home,” and
“the kitchen is the heart of the home,” and Whereas, in 1949, engineer and attorney Malcolm Cooper Sr. secured partial ownership in the company; in 1959, he bought out Josiah Adams; and, today, his son and grandsons hold corporate leadership roles in this family-owned business, and Whereas, the Jones Garage in Dorset, today an office building, was the company’s first production location, but, soon thereafter, JK Adams purchased the abandoned South Dorset icehouse, and this site, following early additions to the building, sustained a devastating
1962 fire that resulted in the construction of a new 22,000-square-foot metal structure, and after further expansion, this facility remains its manufacturing home, and Whereas, over the decades, JK Adams has introduced new products and computerized production technology; opened the Kitchen Store, a retail facility, in Dorset; and has manufactured kitchen and homeware products for its own sales and those of other retailers,
such as Crate & Barrel, Sur la Table, and Uncommon Goods, and Whereas, JK Adams maintains a 19-acre plot of trees and forest that is subject to a forest-management plan; in 2009, it became the first company in its industry to earn Forest Stewardship Council certification; and, in 2022, the company became a Vermont State Benefit Corporation “expanding on its mission to sustainably craft heirloom products that nurture sharing food and connections, while investing in a culture of social opportunity and environmental responsibility,” now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly congratulates the JK Adams Co. of Dorset on its 80th anniversary, and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
JK Adams.
VT LEG #377679 v.1