Northbridge, MA – March 15, 2019 – Riverdale Mills Corporation, global manufacturer of premium-quality welded wire mesh, has earned a 2019 Manufacturing Leadership Award from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).
Riverdale Mills Corp. Earns National Award for Visionary Leadership
Acknowledged for Distinction and Excellence in Manufacturing
Portland Monthly Magazine
From Wire to Wine
Before Mr. Knott developed the idea of a wire lobster trap in 1957, lobstermen were using wooden traps—ones they often spent time repairing. In a 2014 interview with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Knott says he invented a model “made out of welded wire mesh which is galvanized to protect it from the coating getting scraped off, and it’s plastic coated to prevent the Atlantic Ocean from attacking the steel.” But not everyone believed in this Harvard-educated economist’s vision. “A lot of people laughed. They said, ‘You’re never going to catch a lobster in a wire trap,’ because they’d been using wood for hundreds of years.”
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
After 38 Years, Northbridge’s Riverdale Mills Lives On
A local entrepreneur who passed away recently, James M. Knott Sr. transformed the lobstering industry. And the company he founded in 1980, Northbridge-based Riverdale Mills, continues to do well under the leadership of his son, James Jr.
The Wall Street Journal
James Knott Pioneered Modern Lobster Traps and Fended Off the EPA
James Knott helped build a better lobster trap.
Northbridge, Mass. – August 18, 2018 – Riverdale Mills Corporation announces with great sadness the passing of company founder, owner, and retired CEO James Knott, Sr. Mr. Knott was 88.