Fred Smith first came to Oregon in 1972, during this time the current F.N. Quaker Oats built this facility in 1948 as a manufacturing facility to produce the necessary machinery to operate their food plants around the world. Quaker operated successfully in Oregon up until 1972, employing over 50 plant and office personnel at any given time. In 1972 Quaker made the decision to close the plant in Or
egon, which would have eliminated 50 local high income jobs. At that time Fred Smith worked for Cook Manufacturing, an Ohio based corporation. purchased the assets of the Quaker facility, and added it to their manufacturing base. Fred was sent to Oregon from the Cook Mfg. plant in Stow, Ohio to manage the new Cook acquisition. Fred worked hard here in Oregon to focus growth by expanding the customer base which revitalized careers for the 50+ employees that would have been out of a job when Quaker left town. Time marched on, and the Cook Mfg. plant as it was known during that time, continued to create highly skilled manufacturing careers for machinists, welders, fabricators and engineers until in 1988 when the plant faced another potential closing. The owner of Cook Manufacturing was in the process of retiring and was liquidating its assets as he retired. This provided Fred with a number of potential opportunities. At 58 years of age and having had a successful career, Fred could have retired himself, effectively shutting the Oregon plant. There was no apparent outside interest that showed the desire or ability to manage this complex business that had far reaching international sales to Fortune 500 companies . Fred decided that even though he had the means to retire and live a life of leisure, he chose to purchase the Oregon facility from Cook Mfg. outright, to save a company that he cared for, enjoyed running and most importantly save the jobs that were at stake. Fred has never been known for taking the easy way, and has always stressed the benefits of working for the greater good. Since 1988 the company, now known as F.N. Smith Corporation, continues to create an environment for highly skilled, high paying careers for the greater Oregon / Mt Morris community. Fred’s leadership has always encouraged people to be look a little beyond themselves to accomplish things they may have previously believed that they could not achieve. Empowering people has allowed F.N. Smith Corporation to continue its growth and provide stability to the community at large. While at the helm of this business for the last 40+ years, Fred has always believed in advancing educational opportunities for everyone that works at F.N. Smith Corporation, providing a fully paid 4 year apprenticeship to its employees. Smith pays for the tuition and books to attend Rock, Sauk and Kishwaukee Colleges in an effort to become journeymen machinists and engineers. Smith Corporation, these are the types of positions that evolve into long term careers. Admiringly, the company has a few people on staff that started when Fred came to town back in 1972. As the company looks to the future, we realize that we must now develop the management initiatives to grow past the Smith tenure. Smith Corporation can look at other local companies like Woods Equipment Company and E.D Etnyre & Co. to aid in developing management directives to outlive our founders. Smith Corporation is working hard to plan for the next generation of growth; companies can have much longer lifespans than their human benefactors when properly planned for. Smith Corporation is working hard to assure that the company itself is part of the local Oregon community for many years to come. At F.N. Smith Corporation, we pride ourselves as experts in specialized machinery and product design. We have designed and built many types of processing and packaging equipment such as Side Seam Gluers, Forming Rolls, Conveyors, Blender Mixers, Grain Processing Equipment, Pet Food Equipment and more. If you have any inquiries or questions, please feel free to message us or give us a call. Thanks for visiting!
