Many things have changed here in Wayne county over the past 80 years.  However there’s one business on Route 31 in Newark that has seen it all.

Originally established in 1945 by Wilbur F. Smith as a farm machine repair shop, Smith Metal Works has become a staple of the area and the fabrication industry for over eight decades.

What began as a simple dirt floor shop on North Main Street in Newark, has now become a sprawling multi-bay facility with 20 employees under its roof.

Wayne Smith, Wilbur’s son and current owner, has been part of the business since 1970. A Newark native and graduate of Newark High School, Wayne has overseen the growing operation, pioneering advances in the company’s product lines and equipment for the past several decades.

“We used to do a lot of business with the canning factories alongside general manufacturing,” Wayne recalled. But as the agricultural business shifted, the second generation owner knew they had to refocus and come up with their own product line.

Enter the salt spreader. Smith Spreaders can be found all around the country, helping municipalities and commercial clients as far away as Alaska keep their roads safe and salted.

From their beginnings as simple pickup-bed spreaders, Smith now goes through half a million pounds of stainless steel a year making truck body spreaders for various applications.

As the business and industry changed, some things remained a constant.

Shop Foreman Chuck Raes is one of three generations of Raes working at Smith. His father began working for the company in 1974 and continues to fill in from time to time. Chuck’s son Jack followed in their footsteps, joining the company in 2022.

On remaining in business for so long, Chuck shared “We’ve gotten leaner and do more with less,” adding that the shop typically maintains a backlog of 40-50 units at any given time. This is all in addition to work done for other companies as well as maintaining parts for everything they’ve ever made.

“We’ve got customers using spreaders for decades and we still make parts for all of it.”

But as with any industry, the need to modernize is a seemingly constant endeavor. That’s why the shop recently added a new state-of-the-art laser cutting machine. Chuck says it’s a much more efficient way to cut sheet metal due to clean  its clean edges and no need for extensive deburring. It allows Smith to not only add efficiency to their own operations, but also lets them expand into more fabrication  work for outside customers and other local businesses.

“It’s something we can offer to other industries to help area companies keep things local.” says Chuck, adding “You have to be willing to evolve and move forward.”

While Wayne turned 83 last week, he can still be found walking the shop floor on a regular basis. Outside of his love of “heavy metal” Wayne is a passionate collector of many things including classic cars, memorabilia and model trains.

Wayne simply says of his hobbies “I just never grew up.”

Office manager Gail Kline says she knows people have driven by for years not really knowing what they do. “We’re here and offer a lot more than salt spreaders.”

Smith Metal will be hosting an open house on July 17th and encourages the public to come check them out.

More info about the company can be found at smithspreaders.com.