Ward Lumber has been operating in Jay, New York since 1890.

May 07, 2021 —

Standing outside Ward Lumber in the Adirondack town of Jay, you could easily confuse the company’s namesake, Jay Ward, for a small-town mayor.

Over the course of a 30-minute, Ward repeatedly pauses to greet an incoming customer by name, complete with inquiries about family members and life over the past year. 

“If I stand here long enough, we are gonna get interrupted the whole time because it’s a community that we’ve been a part of,” Ward remarked, with more than a touch of pride.

His company is a true local institution. Started by Jay Ward’s great grandfather in 1890 as both a lumber mill and sale yard, Ward Lumber has been in operation for more than 130 years.

Jay is the fourth generation of Ward’s to own and operate the business; a job he’s held for more than 30 years. His brother owns the adjacent lumber mill that still supplies much of their product.

But for the first time in its 131 year existence, Ward Lumber is no longer owned by a member of the Ward family.

“This has been a lot of fun for 33 years, but I can’t handle another 33 years of that much fun.,” Ward quipped when asked about his decision to step back. 

In a previous era this is where we would hear from the 5th generation of family-owners, announcing their ascension to head of familial enterprise. 

Jay Ward shows off some Ward Lumber's signature product. Much of the lumber sold by the company is produced at an adjacent lumber mill in Jay, owned by Ward's brother.

But for North Country businesses today, that is not always an option. Many young people leave the area in search of education or work opportunities elsewhere. Others remain, but are not interested in the grueling life of an entrepreneur. 

Jay Ward has two daughters, both of whom have worked in the family business. 

“But they didn’t have an interest in owning and managing Ward Lumber,” he explained.

“They’ve seen me work until midnight for forever. They have talents and aspirations that take them elsewhere and I’ve supported that from Day 1.”

It’s a challenge faced by many owners seeking to retire or step back from day to day responsibility: who takes over the family business when family is not an option?

One obvious answer is to find another interested party to take over the enterprise. However, that can be easier said than done in rural areas like the Adirondacks, according to Danielle Delaini, who manages the Center for Businesses in Transition for the Adirondack North Country Association.

“In any rural area there is a limited pool of people that are in your backyard that are gonna be able to take over your business,” Delaini said in an interview.

She also said in recent months there has been an uptick in local business owners making plans to step back in some way, even among businesses that weathered the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It may not have been the first economic hurdle that they’ve had to face as a small business owner,” Delaini explained. 

“They may not necessarily want to keep going, and keep going and see what the next hurdle is that they have to face.”

That leaves a few options for entrepreneurs like Jay Ward.

One is to sell the business to a national chain. Suppliers of construction materials like Ward Lumber have been exceptionally busy throughout the past year. 

Alex Pond worked at Ward Lumber's Malone location for nearly seven years before becoming a partial owner of the company. He now sits on the employee-owned co-operative's board of directors.

Millions of Americans stuck at home, combined with a hot housing market has created a boom in home renovations. The price of commodities like lumber have soared, making a business like Ward Lumber attractive to a national operator

Jay Ward could easily have sold to such a chain, but he worried about what would happen to his employees and the family legacy. 

That partially stems from the experience of another lumber yard owner Ward knows in Vermont, who made the decision to sell.

“He said the culture is dramatically different,” Ward explained.

“It’s no longer about the customers, the employees, the community. It’s about the numbers, gotta have that bottom line. And that’s the business model, it’s just not what I wanted to see happen here.”

Another option is liquidation; close the business and sell off the property and assets. That course of action also did not hold much appeal to Ward.

“Then there’s no jobs and there’s no lumber yard serving Jay, New York and Malone, New York like we do today,” he said emphatically. 

With more typical options like family, closing, or selling to a big box retailer off the table, Ward had to get creative.

The answer turned out to be right in front of him all along: Ward Lumber’s employees.

People like Alex Pond, a life-long resident of Malone who has been working at Ward Lumber’s location in that town for almost seven years. 

“Jay came to us and offered the idea of an employee owned co-operative,” Pond explained.

Under the co-op arrangement, Ward Lumber’s employees formed a separate legal entity and bought the company from Jay. Among other actions, they formed a governance board, on which Pond sits, to oversee operations.

Ward Lumber's original location in Jay, NY.

Company employees all have the option to become partial owners of the co-operative and elect fellow workers as board members.

Walking through the warehouse in Malone, Pond recounted that there was no small amount of concern among the staff when Jay first started talking about stepping back from Ward Lumber.

The company culture was likely to change and layoffs are common when new owners, particularly large corporate entities, take over.

Pond said a co-op prevents any of that.

“Everything stays the same. We’re still taking care of our customers, we’re still taking care of the employees.”

With Baby Boomer owners approaching retirement age, more and more local businesses will soon be facing the challenge of what to do next.

Jobs that are lost when a business is sold or closes down often never come back, particularly in rural communities.

ANCA’s Danielle Delaini urged transitioning owners to consider those community impacts and the benefits of opting for worker co-op.

“It’s taking all these people who already live in our community, work at that business and care about it, and it keeps those jobs and people here,” she said.

Jay Ward says this view of the Adirondack Mountains from Ward Lumber's Jay store is what lured him back to the area from a job in Utica more than 30 years ago.

With 50 employees, Ward Lumber is now the largest employee owned co-operative in the North Country. The board’s first order of business was to hire a familiar face as the new CEO: Jay Ward.

“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere,” Ward said of his new status. 

“This is an ownership change, but not a management change.”

For the first time in 33 years, Jay Ward is now the CEO of Ward Lumber, rather than the owner.

He plans to assist the company’s new employee-owners get their bearings and maintain stability for Ward Lumber’s customers and partners.

And maybe eventually take a day off.