WINNER , LARGE CATEGORY : 250 + employees LOCATION : Nor th Kingstown , oceanstatejoblot . com The largest closeout retailer in the Northeast .
Most people recognize Job Lot ’ s
trucks with its chatty green frogs rumbling up the highway delivering leaf bags , trash cans , even exotic cooking spices to the company ’ s more than 140 stores .
What ’ s less familiar , though , is Job Lot ’ s long history of supporting the community , which this year went into high gear . Case in point : Job Lot ’ s Mask for Free campaign , which supplied enough fabric , gratis , to customers to fashion nearly two million homemade masks at a time when face coverings were a scarce commodity .
Job Lot also distributed more than 550,000 surgical face masks to frontliners fighting COVID , including 200 to each police and fire department in the communities where its stores are located .
And using its global supply chain , the company sourced critical supplies including masks , gloves and sanitizers that were immediately donated to hospitals , first responders and others , and contributed $ 250,000 to these critical items . These initiatives and more garnered enthusiastic bravos from the judges : “ For being a Rhode Island staple , they don ’ t promote a lot of their philanthropy ,” said one . “ They used COVID as an opportunity to respond to a call for help ” and “ They had products that everyone needed and gave so much away ,” said another . Job Lot ’ s philosophy of community support is a cornerstone of its operations and the jurors wholeheartedly agreed .
66 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JANUARY 2021