The American Home Furnishings Alliance has awarded its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, to John E. (Jeb) Bassett, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Bassett Furniture Industries.
The honor was presented November 9 during the organization’s Annual Meeting and CEO Conference in Yountville, California.
The award is presented each year to an industry executive selected for his or her contribution to the home furnishings industry, to AHFA and to the recipient’s local community. Bassett is the 57th recipient of the award, which was first presented in 1966 and was conferred on his grandfather, John E. Bassett, Sr. in 1970.
In announcing the honor, Farooq Kathwari, chairman, CEO and president of Ethan Allen, noted that Bassett “grew up in the factory, achieving competence at the very lowest level jobs and working his way up.”
Kathwari continued, “With no free ride, he worked twice as hard to demonstrate his earnest desire to learn the business… He left his hometown (of Bassett, Virginia) for only four years to attend the furniture manufacturing program at North Carolina State University.” His executive team reports he is the first to arrive at the office every day and that he is passionately committed to delivering the finest quality products to both retailers and end consumers.
Bassett also is committed to his hometown and has served on the Martinsville Henry County Chamber of Commerce. He is a current board member for the Martinsville & Henry County Community Harvest Foundation, an organization that invests in revitalizing Henry County, and he was instrumental in the Foundation’s work to rejuvenate the Bassett, Virginia, downtown area. The project included renewing storefronts and establishing an event center at the former Bassett Train Depot. A breezeway at the train station includes a timeline highlighting the individuals and companies that were instrumental in the county’s rich furniture heritage – a project Bassett spearheaded as part of his work with the Henry County Furniture Museum and the Smith River Small Towns Collaborative.
Bassett serves as chair of the Board of Trustees for First United Methodist Church in Martinsville, and he was the fundraising chair of the Martinsville Speedway’s July 4th Celebration Event for 20 years. He is a past board member of the Boy Scouts of America Blue Ridge Mountains Council and the Patrick & Henry Community College Foundation.
Bassett was chair of AHFA’s Board of Directors in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption of association activities, Bassett (and the entire slate of officers that year) agreed to serve a second term in 2021.