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Community Connection Drives Family Business
For 70 years, Williams Lumber & Home Centers has been a key member of the Dutchess County businesscommunity.Foundedin1946, when Stan Williams purchased the Gibson Lumber Company in Rhinebeck, the company is in its third generation of leadership.
Stan’s son, Sandy Williams, is president of Williams Lumber, and his daughters Kelly and Kim serve as vice presidents. Kim Williams, vice president of retail operations, was honored in 2008 with the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association’s Lumber Person of the Year award.
She helps preside over Williams Lumber’s eight locations, with ve in Dutchess County, and 260 employees—some whom have worked with the company for up to 45 years. Williams devotes her life to ensuring the family business continues its success.
“Our associates and their families depend on Williams Lumber to be there for them, and we have a community that depends on us,” says Williams. “So I wouldn’t think of doing anything else in the world. This is my lifeblood.”
Despite her grandfather’s early objections to having family involved in the business, Williams spent her high school years and college breaks answering telephones, organizing stock, and working the registers. She attended Simmons College in Boston for retail management, then worked at Macy’s as an executive in training before father Sandy asked her to come home to help run Williams Lumber.
At the time, Williams Lumber had two locations, in Rhinebeck and Salt Point, but soon expanded to Columbia County, Ulster County, Greene County, and Hopewell Junction. The main Rhinebeck store transitioned into a
home store, and is today the largest independent home center in the Hudson Valley. More recently, Williams Lumber opened a design center in Millbrook and a full-service home center in Hyde Park.
“We have a community that depends on us. So I wouldn’t think of doing anything else in the world. This is my lifeblood.”
Williams Lumber is devoted to community service, supporting Eagle Scouts and Boy Scouts, local churches, and charity events. Being involved in the community is most important to Kim Williams, who says her business gives back because “they have always been there for us.” Along with that, Williams Lumber has an open-door policy with the public.
“There are a lot of businesses today where you can’t get to the owners— they don’t want to deal with people. That’s what makes us real,” says Williams. “People know that if they have a problem, they can come see us.”
The community connection is what Williams loves most about Dutchess County, but she’s also amazed at the transition of her hometown of Rhinebeck from cozy village to bustling tourist attraction. Rhinebeck’s proximity to New York City, along with its country character, makes it an appealing place for visitors.
“There are all these beautiful shops and wonderful little restaurants here,” says Williams. “Everybody has found this quaint town, and everyone wants to be here in Dutchess County.”
"Everybody has found this quaint town," says Kim Williams of Williams Lumber about Rhinebeck, pictured above.
Her family lumber business started in Rhinebeck in 1946.
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