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Party, open house mark S&W anniversary
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Party, open house mark anniversary
Saturday, August 3, 2002
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
,p25>Staff photos by MARK M. MURRAYFrank J. Stasionski, above left, a gun assembler at Smith & Wesson, demonstrates how to put a gun together as Edward M. Prystupa, second from left, purchasing specialist, pauses with the group he was leading through the factory. At right, Wayne D'Angelo, master engraver, carefully works on the cylinder of a revolver.
Smith & Wesson kicked off a weekend celebration of the 150th anniversary of its founders' partnership last night with a tour and reception.
About 150 people attended the event, held at the Springfield company's Roosevelt Avenue factory. The factory will be open to retirees and their families tomorrow morning and to the public from 2 to 5 p.m. as part of the celebration.
The event last night was a place for former executives to mingle with the current owners.
Stephen Melvin, president of the company from 1989 to 1994, said during the tour he was impressed to see that the modernization in equipment and techniques that began while he was there had continued. "The company is in better shape than I could have imagined or hoped for," he said.
Seth K. Wesson, great-great-grandson of founder Daniel B. Wesson, said he could feel the difference in the company when he entered yesterday. "You can see the pride in their heritage is back," he said.
Wesson worked at the company as a young man, before his family sold the firm in 1965.
One of the newest owners of the company is Colton R. Melby, a former owner of a Washington state aerospace parts company who is now a major shareholder in Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. Melby loaned $5 million to make possible the deal in which an Arizona gun safety equipment manufacturer bought Smith & Wesson last year.
"It's been a fantastic experience," said Melby, who sits on the board of directors of the company. "I think we've gotten past the biggest hurdles," he said.
The company last year was suffering a sales slump due in part to a consumer backlash against a safety and distribution deal with the government. Many gun owners believed the deal, which was supposed to extricate Smith & Wesson from a slew of liability lawsuits brought by large cities, gave the government too much control over gun sales.
Since its return to U.S. ownership and the removal of the requirements of the controversial deal, sales for Smith & Wesson have gone up. The company currently runs two shifts in most of its sprawling plant, and many departments are working weekends. Smith & Wesson employs about 625 people.
President Robert L. Scott said the company wanted to mark the milestone anniversary of the initial partnership between Daniel Wesson and Horace Smith in 1852 with a special event. "We're excited to be able to open it up to the public, especially since Smith & Wesson has been a somewhat closed community in the past." William Freebairn can be reached at wfreebairn@union-news.com
c 2002 UNION-NEWS. Used with permission. http://www.masslive.com/business/unionnews/index.ssf?/business/pstories/biz03smi.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Saturday, August 3, 2002
By WILLIAM FREEBAIRN
,p25>Staff photos by MARK M. MURRAYFrank J. Stasionski, above left, a gun assembler at Smith & Wesson, demonstrates how to put a gun together as Edward M. Prystupa, second from left, purchasing specialist, pauses with the group he was leading through the factory. At right, Wayne D'Angelo, master engraver, carefully works on the cylinder of a revolver.
Smith & Wesson kicked off a weekend celebration of the 150th anniversary of its founders' partnership last night with a tour and reception.
About 150 people attended the event, held at the Springfield company's Roosevelt Avenue factory. The factory will be open to retirees and their families tomorrow morning and to the public from 2 to 5 p.m. as part of the celebration.
The event last night was a place for former executives to mingle with the current owners.
Stephen Melvin, president of the company from 1989 to 1994, said during the tour he was impressed to see that the modernization in equipment and techniques that began while he was there had continued. "The company is in better shape than I could have imagined or hoped for," he said.
Seth K. Wesson, great-great-grandson of founder Daniel B. Wesson, said he could feel the difference in the company when he entered yesterday. "You can see the pride in their heritage is back," he said.
Wesson worked at the company as a young man, before his family sold the firm in 1965.
One of the newest owners of the company is Colton R. Melby, a former owner of a Washington state aerospace parts company who is now a major shareholder in Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. Melby loaned $5 million to make possible the deal in which an Arizona gun safety equipment manufacturer bought Smith & Wesson last year.
"It's been a fantastic experience," said Melby, who sits on the board of directors of the company. "I think we've gotten past the biggest hurdles," he said.
The company last year was suffering a sales slump due in part to a consumer backlash against a safety and distribution deal with the government. Many gun owners believed the deal, which was supposed to extricate Smith & Wesson from a slew of liability lawsuits brought by large cities, gave the government too much control over gun sales.
Since its return to U.S. ownership and the removal of the requirements of the controversial deal, sales for Smith & Wesson have gone up. The company currently runs two shifts in most of its sprawling plant, and many departments are working weekends. Smith & Wesson employs about 625 people.
President Robert L. Scott said the company wanted to mark the milestone anniversary of the initial partnership between Daniel Wesson and Horace Smith in 1852 with a special event. "We're excited to be able to open it up to the public, especially since Smith & Wesson has been a somewhat closed community in the past." William Freebairn can be reached at wfreebairn@union-news.com
c 2002 UNION-NEWS. Used with permission. http://www.masslive.com/business/unionnews/index.ssf?/business/pstories/biz03smi.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878