About John Bassett
John Bassett III, chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Company, has spoken publicly about his company's efforts to compete with Chinese furniture imports. He stated that after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, prices plummeted and his company decided to keep manufacturing in the United States. Bassett said the company formed a coalition of 29 companies and spent $55 million on litigation alleging that Chinese manufacturers were violating international trade rules, and that the effort was successful. He described his company as "100% domestic made" and said it is "one of the last of the solid wood furniture makers" in the United States, employing 700 people in Galax, Virginia.
Bassett has discussed his management philosophy, which he said includes rules such as maintaining a winning attitude and providing leadership by example. He said the company invested $6.5 million in an automated rough mill, reassigning affected employees without cutting pay and reducing headcount only through attrition. During the 2008 financial crisis, he said the company created a free clinic for employees and their families to retain its workforce. Bassett has also commented on the millennial generation, stating that they "may not work as long hours as before, but they are better fathers and better with their children." He is the subject of the book "Factory Man" by Beth Macy, which he described as "the most famous furniture book that's ever been written."
Source: AI-verified profile updated from John Bassett's recent appearances.
Browse all interviews →
Transcript (4 segments)
M
Moderator0:00
We got to know each other because we both have this world view that companies can be run in a different way. And you have this incredible story. You come from, I think it is a 10-generation Virginia family? It goes way back, 1621, not quite the Mayflower, but around then. And your family has lived in the same community in Virginia for many, many decades and ran a very well-known furniture company that was really a company town. The town you're in is Bassett, Virginia, right? But a few decades ago, they began to come up against the issues of globalization. The Chinese were commoditizing the furniture market. I think furniture actually is one of the most hard-hit markets by foreign competition. At the time, your family's firm was struggling. You were not put in charge, but you went off and started your own private furniture firm about 70 miles away. And they became kind of a tale of two companies, in a way, right?
J
John Bassett1:16
I actually did not start that company. My wife's grandfather worked for my grandfather, and in 1919 he left and started a company called Bone-Bassett Furniture Company. Now I'm a bastard, so everybody relates to the past. And that's my family, that's why I learned the business. But yes, in 1983 I left.
M
Moderator1:39
So you basically came up with a different model that had totally different outcomes. You were able to take a very commoditized business, an old-line manufacturing business, and because of decisions you took, keep jobs in the community. Walk us through that story. What were the turning points? What did you do that was different from what your competitors were doing?
J
John Bassett2:00
We've been in business since 1990. We were not new. We made wood bedroom furniture. Then when 2001 the Chinese joined the World Trade Organization, prices plummeted. They just absolutely plummeted. And we had to decide what we were going to do. People were panicking, the stampede was on. Wall Street wanted you to close all your factories, that's the thing to do. And that was advice you would hear from investment bankers and so on. So we looked at it. I had two sons and we said, what are we going to do? The stockholders were scared to death, employees are scared to death, the community was scared to death. Customers were leaving us because they did not think we would stay in this country, that we would disappear. So they wanted to leave while they could still get products. It was a crisis. And we decided that the only way we could exist and survive is with the whole company working together. We had to talk to the people. So we accidentally formed what I call the final group rules, and we stumbled into it. I'm not saying it was brilliant. So now part of the rules: we went to the people and we said, 'Here's a problem. Now if we're going to stay in this community, we have to do it together.' And it's called attitude. An attitude, ladies and gentlemen, is a mindset. It's a mindset. Winning is a mindset. Unfortunately, losing is a mindset. In my opinion, in this country we've lost some of this. We used to want to compete. Now we want to turn tail and run. So we sat down with our people and we were shocked. They had given up. They'd see Joe and why do you think we can do this when larger companies are leaving? They were watching television, reading the paper, the internet, whatever. And we were shocked. Our people had become quitters. Now that leads to rule number two: how do you turn that around? Ladies and gentlemen, you turn it around with leadership. That's how you do it. I mean old-fashioned leadership, not golden parachutes and stock options. It's what I learned in the military: don't ask anybody to do anything you're not willing to do yourself. And when they came to work in the morning, I was in the parking lot. But they left, I was there. Cars from the parking lot had a problem. We were right in there with them.
