James M. Knott Sr.; President and chief executive officer, Riverdale Mills Corp., Northbridge.

• Position: Business

James M. Knott, Sr. started the Riverdale Mills Corporation in 1979 by renovating a derelict Northbridge mill building, with an idea that would completely reinvent commercial lobster traps. Now, at 84 years old, Mr. Knott has watched his company grow to 100 employees, and his traps are now the industry standard. He received an economics degree at Harvard University, and has received medals for his time in the United States Army Armored Division. He has appeared on both 60 Minutes and 20/20 for his dealings with the government.

You opened Riverdale Mills back in 1979, how did the company start and how has it grown since then?

"It started as me alone. I grew up as a lobster fisherman, I started when I was 12 and I still fish today. In 1957, I invented the wire lobster trap. It's 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. I put the first one in the water in 1957, and it worked. A lot of people laughed. They said you're never going to catch a lobster in a wire trap, because they had been using wood for hundreds of years. Of course, today all traps in New England are wire. They still make a lot of wooden traps, but those are just for coffee tables.''

How do you choose what new innovations you'd like to put company resources into?

"If a customer calls me and says they'd like this, that or the other thing, I always make them a sample. Some of my management people say, 'But, they're only ordering one.' Well, yes, that's true, but if they see a use for this thing that they're ordering, then maybe they'll order another thing.''

Tell me about the company's use of hydropower, do you think that using alternative sources of energy is important?

"There was a turbine here that was built in 1901. It was thoroughly disabled, so I had a crane come in and pick it up, and I took it all apart and made it like new. I had to weld little pieces on because they had been broken off, and put it back down, and I found a motor in a junkyard in Attleboro. The motor was designed to turn at 450 rpm, and if you turn it at 460 rpm, it gets confused and turns into a generator. It saves me between $100,000 to $125,000 a year, depending on the flow of the river.''

In your experience, what is the most crucial component of operating a long-running and successful business?

"One of the major problems is the government. Basically, it has to get...