Rooted in Legacy, Driven by Change

In North Amherst, Mass., you’ll find a thriving community built on Cowls’ Home Farm, a family enterprise in the Connecticut River Valley, where generations of farmers have raised animals and crops and milled lumber for the region’s homes and businesses.

Respecting the past Cinda Jones ’90 carries forward a 284-year legacy as the ninth-generation president of W.D. Cowls Inc., a business she has dedicated to sustainable forestry, land conservation, solar energy, and community development.

Jones is managing a generational family business while rewriting the longstanding management plan. Her vision for the future of W.D. Cowls led to building The Mill District, the conservation of more than 10,000 acres of land, hosting multiple large-scale solar enterprises, and reimagining how a centuries-old company can lead sustainability and economic impact.

She is proving that a family business rooted in traditional values can grow forward-thinking solutions.

Jones’s roots in forestry run deep. As a child, she worked Saturdays cutting yellow triangles out of plastic sheets for foresters to use as boundary markers. She spent summers painting rental houses, sorting nails, and stacking lumber.

Jones’ Colby experience helped her achieve her powerful hands-on approach to life. She found community through the Outing Club and woodsmen’s team. Her Colby career began with a memorable five-day canoe trip on the Moose River, during which a life-changing experience provided her with newfound strength to face life’s challenges.

During the trip, Jones capsized in her canoe, which had turned sideways in a rapid, leading the old metal boat to wrap itself around a rock and turn inside out. Her COOT leader, a recently trained Colby EMT, assisted her, motivating her to develop her emergency skills further. It was through the Jan Plan training course that Jones developed the leadership skills she used to save a life as a Colby first responder, and which she uses to this day.

“This training has served me well throughout my life. It gave me leadership skills I use every day. I step forward and handle difficult situations when others stand back. I’m not afraid of challenges. Helping people is important to me.”

“I never would have guessed that a 100-hour EMT class would have been the most impactful of my college career,” said Jones. “I encourage students to challenge their normal. It’s important to have diverse skills; you never know when you”ll need them.”

After graduating from Colby as an English major with concentrations in Creative Writing and Studio Art, she spent a decade in Washington, D.C., getting her graduate certificate in business administration from Georgetown University and working for nonprofit organizations in the natural resources field. Her dad told her that since she was so good at non-profits, she should come home and oversee the family sawmill.

After returning home and a few years of experiential analysis, she realized the sawmill was struggling and needed a new direction. Jones thought the company operated with an outdated business model. The sawmill at the heart of the operation was losing money, the timber wasn’t optimized, and much of the land had higher and better uses. Jones evaluated assets and opportunities, and together with her brother and business partner Evan, the family business started in a new direction.

Over the next decade, Jones worked relentlessly to diversify W.D. Cowls’ operations. She eventually made the difficult decision to shutter the historic sawmill, a move that could be viewed as letting go of their past. But for Jones, it was about embracing the future.