Contact Information:
Smith Provision Company
1300 Cranberry Street
Erie, PA
Phone Number: 800/334-9151
Website: www.smithhotdogs.com
How did your company get started? What are the greatest opportunities and challenges of being a small business?
How did we get our start? Smith’s was founded in 1927 by William Smith, as a neighborhood butcher shop. In 1949, Tony and Max Weber purchased Smith Provision Co. and coverted the business from retail to manufacturing cooked meat products according to Tony’s personal recipes, which are still in use today. Currently the company is still a family owned business, operated by 3rd generation Mike and John Weber, as well as 3 fourth generation Webers.
Opportunities: We have the opportunity to strengthen the ties of respect for each other within our family, as we work so closely with each other. We also, as good stewards of our Company, have the opportunity to provide family sustaining employment for our associates who choose to spend their working lives with us. The real opportunity as a small business is to be able to shape the Company’s Vision and Mission to meet our long term family goals.
Challenges: We compete every day with the Giants in food industry. We need to continue to be leaders in food safety and product quality, while keeping our products as affordable as possible given the economies of scale that we lack. We need to continue to invest wisely in our people, our facilities, and our brand identity, especially in the new markets we must compete in, in order to survive and prosper.
