Like many fabrication shops, Albina Co. Inc. Tualatin, Ore., is the product of a humble origin. A pipe shop that started with a single employee, it grew to become a fabrication shop with expertise in a half dozen bending processes and decades of proficiency in bending essentially any form of steel. While most businesses last just a few years—many less than 12 months—this one is thriving after decades in business. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that its longevity is the outcome of a single staffing decision.

The company was formed in 1939 by three founders, who hired a local steamfitter, John Smith, as their first worker. Deciphering prints and using a variety of tools and machines to turn lengths of pipe, valves, and fittings into complex systems is rigorous, challenging work, both mentally and physically. For Smith, that wasn’t the end of the line. His time as a steamfitter was more of an apprenticeship than a career. Albina was a good fit for his background because the company would become much more than a pipe shop.

“The original company was a blacksmith shop in an old horse stable,” said Brian Smith, the current owner, CEO, and John’s grandson. “Back then the focus was 100 percent pipe,” he said.

John Smith’s time as the sole employee was limited, but no matter—his other title, first employee, carried a lot of weight. For much of his tenure, he was the most experienced person on the staff. As the original partners left the organization, Smith’s role grew. Over time he became a co-owner, and eventually the sole owner. Along the way he also was the shop foreman and operations manager, but his biggest contributions stemmed from his ingenuity. More than a fitter, Smith had a knack for all things mechanical, and ultimately he became an equipment builder. He was responsible for designing and assembling one of the company’s first bending machines 钣金展-激光设备展-2019年广州国际激光设备及钣金工业展 -2019 China(Guangzhou) Int’l Laser Equipment and Sheet Metal Industry Exhibition -Sheet metal exhibition, Sheet metal expo, 2019 Sheet metal exhibition, 2019 Sheet metal expo, China Sheet metal exhibition, China Sheet metal expo, Laser Equipment exhibition, Laser Equipment expo, 2019 Laser Equipment exhibition, 2019 Laser Equipment expo, Laser exhibition, Laser expo .