Company Name: King Arthur Flour Company
Location: Norwich, VT
Nature of Business: Food manufacturer, catalogue, retail, school
Founded: 1790
Revenue: $61 million
Number of Employees: 160
Average Tenure: 5 years
A brand familiar to generations of Americans, King Arthur Flour Company represents the nation’s oldest flour company and the single largest educator of home bakers in the world. Founded in Boston in 1790, impressive growth has accompanied the company’s relatively recent transformation from a small, fifth generation operation with a half dozen employees in 1990, to the 100% employee-owned business seen today, now with 160 associates. The labor unions once tied to the company have exited as King Arthur has placed an ever-increasing value on transparency, open communication and upholding stakeholder interests. Beyond free bakery items, formal recognition programs include “knighting” ceremonies to honor long-time employees and “vesting” ceremonies where fully vested employee-owners are given a King Arthur Flour fleece vest. “Brain Food” classes are taught by coworkers on a variety of topics from Bread 101 to Personal Finance 101, and small teams, such as the Stewardship Team, have opportunities to propose programs and policies within the still evolving organization.