Lessons from Their Fathers on ‘Integrity in Business’

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Greg Smith and Dave Collins went to work for their fathers in different decades, at different growth stages at the two companies their fathers worked side-by-side to build. 

Their fathers, Clarence R. Smith Jr. and Arnold Collins, made Compco Metal Products and Diamond Steel Construction Co. the industrial mainstays they are today. Along the way, they became small-business and community benefactors, supporting countless ventures as they got started and stabilized.

Greg Smith, today chairman of Compco, and Dave Collins, president of Diamond Steel, say their fathers did things quietly, never seeking accolades. They can’t count how many businesses and nonprofits they seeded and funded. Even their mothers never knew the full extent of their investments and philanthropy, they say.

In 1986, one of the fledgling ventures was the Youngstown Publishing Co., just two years into publication of what was then the Youngstown Business Journal. With no expectation of ever seeing a return, Smith and Collins wrote a check – and would again and again during difficult years.

“They thought that maybe The Business Journal would throw a different light on certain things. That if we put news out in a positive vein, it would help Youngstown,” Dave Collins remembers. “They wanted to provide a positive perspective.”

“It was a depressing time. … It was a victimization time,” Greg Smith remembers. 

“My father said to me, ‘I want somebody that’s going to give a good honest representation of business and we have to be involved. We have to give people hope.’ He believed there’s certain things you have to do,” Smith says, “If you could figure out a way to make money, you do. If you could break even, great. But having an informed public was more important.”

The Backstory

Diamond Steel Construction Co. was founded in 1928 by Greg’s grandfather, Clarence R. Smith Sr., a journeyman ironworker. The company name is derived from what was then called the Diamond at Central Square in downtown Youngstown.

“Mr. Smith would go downtown and pick up his employees from the union hall on the southwest corner of the Diamond,” Dave Collins told The Business Journal in a 2018 story marking Diamond Steel’s 90th anniversary.

In 1952, Clarence Sr. and his partner, Martin Poshner, diversified and established Commercial Piping Co. Shortly thereafter, Compco (its name today) became Clarence Jr.’s company to operate when his father became seriously ill. Arnold, an accountant with the forerunner of Hill Barth & King, arrived in 1955 and became the controller of both companies.

“They really thought alike. I never heard them argue a point,” Dave says. “It was Clarence’s company – so he had the last say. But he never really overruled Dad. If Smitty didn’t want to do something, he’d say, ‘Go check with Arnold.’ And if Dad didn’t want to do something, he’d say, ‘We better check with Smitty.’”

“People knew Arnold had integrity. He stood behind what he said and he always watched out for you,” Greg Smith says.

“He’d tell my father, ‘We can’t afford that.’ And my father would say, ‘We’ve got to figure out a way to afford it.’ Arnold would say, ‘I’m going to tell you again, we can’t afford it.’ And when he said it twice, my father wouldn’t spend the money,” Greg says.

Clarence Jr. and Arnold shared an office, their desks facing each other. It was Arnold’s practice to open every piece of mail that came to Compco, no matter to whom it was addressed.

Then, the tank head manufacturer operated a stamping plant at 85 E. Hylda Ave. in Youngstown.

Today Compco is based at 400 W. Railroad St. in Columbiana, its market much expanded through product growth and acquisitions. Email correspondence makes Arnold’s practice obsolete. Not so his business rules.

“My father taught me the importance of integrity in business,” Dave says.

“He always said, ‘Your word is your bond. If you promise something, you deliver it,” he adds.

“He believed certain things are necessary to run a business. You need to be at work at eight o’clock. You need to go to lunch at noon. You need to be back by 1 [o’clock] and stay until 5. That’s a successful business, he said, and the rest will take care of itself.”

Dave Collins was hired by Compco in the early 1970s, he says. He was dispatched to Diamond Steel in February 1976 with a simple job assignment from Smitty and his father: “You’ll figure it out.”

Greg Smith joined Compco full-time in July 1988. Today, he’s chairman of the board and, like his father, serves as a mentor to colleagues, various small businesses and numerous associates in the community.

 “I would say the greatest life and business lesson my father taught me was ‘Don’t step on people’s toes.’

“He didn’t tell you what to do. He gave you options. You could do this – or you could do that. And he told you what would happen depending on the option you chose,” Greg continues.

“When he gave his money, and it made a huge difference, it was a blessing for him. He always thought money and possessions were his to manage, not his to keep.”

In 2005, Clarence Smith Jr. sold Diamond Steel to the Collins family. At Dave’s suggestion, they signed the papers in downtown Youngstown where the Diamond used to be.

In 2018, Clarence Smith Jr. and Jean Collins, Arnold’s widow, sold their stock in the Youngstown Publishing Co. to me.

Arnold Collins died in 1995 at age 75. Clarence R. Smith Jr. died in 2021 at age 92.

Their legacy and lessons remain.

Pictured at top: Greg Smith, chairman of Compco.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.