INDUSTRY
A Clarksville Legacy:
Smithfield Manufacturing BY TONY CENTONZE
S
mithfield Manufacturing on Kraft Street has been making precision products for its customers for more than 60 years. The company, which has had some ups and downs, is now under the leadership of Gerneral Manager Norma Purviance, and poised for sustained growth.
We produce a wide variety of components.”
Purviance started off in the Deburr department, Her job was to use whatever tool necessary to ensure that there were no rough or sharp burrs on manufactured parts, that when handled, might cause injury to the customers.
customers. Our biggest customer is Parker Hannifin in North Carolina. They specialize in O-Rings, and we manufacture parts for their gear pump division. We make a series of double-ended high-strength studs that are part of the gear boxes used in off-road equipment,” Purviance said.
“I’ve been here for 25 years, and I became the General Manager in 2016,” Purviance said. “I guess it was somewhat unheard of for a woman to be at the helm of this type of business, but it’s becoming more prevalent now.”
“We’ve been in business since 1952, it was started by Basil Smithfield,” Purviance said. “We make a wide variety of products. We are basically a machine shop, and we make products that are used in several industries, automotive, medical, heavy equipment, industrial valves, etc.
The business currently has 15 employees, with whom it is able to produce an annual 7-figure top line. Purviance tells the CBJ, “We have customers all over the United States, but mostly in the southeast region. Tennessee holds our largest base of
Ron and David Smithfield owned the company until May of 2013. Dave Devine of Michigan is the current owner. “The majority of our employees
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are long-term,” Purviance said. “Only a few have been here for less than five years, but if you talked to them you would think they had been here as long as the rest of us. I get different answers from every one of our employees as to why they choose to make this their long-term home.”
“The most popular answer is, ‘you’re not just a number here.’ Our company truly cares about the reason you are working here. You are here to fund your lifestyle, which typically means you put your family first. As a general rule, we try to put our employee family first.” “Everyone has their own motivating factors, and we’re supportive of that. I don’t want to lose good people for stupid reasons, for example if they’re a few minutes late for work. That’s a terrible reason to lose a good employee, in my mind. So, flexibility is a popular answer among our employees as well. We work around their schedule if necessary. We have some single people here who have kids, so we try to work with them, as they attempt to keep the home-fires burning, while providing income for their families.”
