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2022 SPECIAL SESSION I


HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 800
Commending the Jesse Jones Sausage Company.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, September 7, 2022

 

WHEREAS, the Jesse Jones Sausage Company of Danville has provided world-class sausage products to countless individuals and families over the past 96 years, earning a prominent place in the history and culture of Southside Virginia; and

WHEREAS, the Jesse Jones Sausage Company was started in 1926 by Major Jesse Jones, a lifelong resident of Pittsylvania County whose talent for raising pigs and processing sausage helped build a company that, today, supplies tens of thousands of pounds of hot dogs, sausages, bologna, chili, and more annually throughout the Carolinas and the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, in the early days, when Major Jones was a bread salesman and country merchant who only raised pigs as a hobby and to provide food for his family, the Jesse Jones Sausage Company founder would gift homemade sausage to his customers to show his appreciation for their business; and

WHEREAS, by the mid-1920s, Major Jones had many customers requesting his sausage and a large surplus of pigs, but he had no livestock market in the Danville area where he could meet their demand, which inspired him in 1926 to establish the Jones Sausage Company; and

WHEREAS, in the beginning, Major Jones delivered Jones Sausage Company products along a milk route he worked; as the company’s reputation spread throughout Pittsylvania County and beyond, the company’s products also began to appear on the shelves of local country stores; and

WHEREAS, when the scale of the company’s operations outgrew Major Jones’ family kitchen, the Jones Sausage Company opened its first pork processing plant in the Danville area, offering employment to many local residents and bolstering the regional economy; and

WHEREAS, by the late 1940s, the Jones Sausage Company expanded into North Carolina, with Major Jones’ four sons, Cassell, Earl, Garland, and Reginald, helping to establish a processing plant in Garner, North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, by the 1950s, the Jones Sausage Company was primarily managed by Major Jones’ sons, who decided to rebrand the business as the Jesse Jones Sausage Company in honor of their father; and

WHEREAS, only a few weeks before the company was set to officially become the Jesse Jones Sausage Company, Major Jones died on May 4, 1956; his sons would run the company for several more years until they ultimately sold the business to General Mills and GoodMark Foods; and

WHEREAS, while operating under the brands of General Mills and GoodMark Foods, the Jesse Jones Sausage Company was notably the primary meat producer for Slim Jims, the popular beef jerky snack; and

WHEREAS, purchased by the White Packing Company of King George in 1997, the Jesse Jones Sausage Company continues to be one of the most reputable and recognizable purveyors of hot dogs and sausages in Southside Virginia and the Carolinas, with its products sold at many local grocery and convenience stores and at notable venues the region over; and

WHEREAS, the Jesse Jones Sausage Company is the official hot dog of the Martinsville Speedway and has been an integral part of the race day experience at the track since its founding in 1947; and

WHEREAS, the enduring popularity of Jesse Jones Sausage Company products and the legacy of its brand are a testament to the vision of its founder, the hard work and dedication of its employees, and the appreciation and support of the entire community of Southside Virginia; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the Jesse Jones Sausage Company hereby be commended for its accomplishments over its past 96 years of service; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Jesse Jones Sausage Company as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for the company’s history and its contributions to the Commonwealth.