Robert Smith has spent his entire career in the machining and fabrication industry.
He co-owned a company in Tuscaloosa with his father and brothers that the family sold in 2015 after over 30 years in business.
Four years ago, he moved to the Magic City, and while not anticipating starting another machining operation, he had a talk with a business partner and decided to pursue the venture.
“We were going to do something,” Smith said. “And the opportunity just came about as ‘Well, I guess we can start another machining facility here in Birmingham,’ and that’s kind of where we are with what we’re doing.”
The business, called Smith & Co., will invest $2.56 million to open a facility in Birmingham to serve the defense, aerospace and automotive industries.
The company has already begun operations and has two machines installed with a third on the way. Smith said he is hoping to ramp up production and make as many as 50 new hires for positions with an average wage of more than $68,000 over the next three years. The company currently has six employees. Smith said he wants to hire locally for CNC machinists as well as those with mechanical engineering and other machining backgrounds.
The company has now moved into a 7,500-square-foot space at 3116 Fourth Ave. S. near the Lakeview District. Smith said this location felt perfect for the business since it offers easy access to the airport as well as entertainment options.
Smith said he thinks Birmingham offers an advantage for machining for the defense, aerospace and automotive industries with its central location. He said the city is easy to navigate, which is a plus.
“(For) defense and aerospace, location is not as important as say the automotive industry where some OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) like their suppliers to be within a certain number of miles, etc.,” Smith said. “But Birmingham is centrally located. The interstate system, the airport and basically the ease of getting even across the city (is advantageous).
“Birmingham is ... almost like the perfect spot because you can dip on the interstate up to Huntsville in an hour and a half. You can be in Atlanta in two hours. You have Nashville. You can be in South Alabama, so it has all the interstate systems going east, west, north and south, and you can just be anywhere quickly within a 100-mile radius.”
The city has also been on board with the project.
In October, the Birmingham Industrial Development Board agreed to abate noneducational ad valorem and sales and use taxes for 10 years for the project.
