Eddie Smith’s Dream
Eddie Smith, at 83 years young, is at the wheel of a Grady-White boat, just as he has been since 1968.
“It’s a family atmosphere, and more, and I did not want that to go away, did not want to lose our culture. I could not stand the thought of that.” Eddie Smith, Grady-White.
I could think of no better way to begin this essay than the above quote from Grady-White’s Eddie Smith during a recent phone conversation I had with the long-time company CEO, who was much more than that. At age 83, Smith would be stepping aside, leaving the iconic brand he built from a nearly defunct boat building company he bought in 1968, when he was 26, in the care of a perpetual purpose trust. This would ensure his established promise to just about everyone involved in the Grady-White experience that the company would stay on course. As a friend of the brand and Grady-White owner, talking to Eddie brought back many positive memories.
From the loyal employees to the dealers and boat owners, and to the Greenville, North Carolina community, home to the company since its inception in 1959 by then owners Glen Grady and Don White, Smith’s aspiration was to make sure the entity would continue as it had been during his tenure.
“The values, principles, and culture of the company shaped the foundation of our enterprise which, with the creation of the trust document, along with its guardrails, will carry it way into the future and keep it Grady-White,” he told me.
In my role as a long-time marine journalist, I knew this would not be a typical assignment. Instead, my approach would be more of a personal look at this event and what it meant to me. During my decades of reporting on boats, yachts, maintenance, new technology, advances in building techniques, and so much more, each story meant looking forward to meeting and getting to know the people involved in my coverage.
At the top of my list were the folks at Grady-White. From the higher-ups to the designers and engineers to those on the line to the sales and marketing team, and everyone in between, there was a common theme that was present in each and every one I ever interacted with. Since first stepping into the Greenville, North Carolina production facility everyone was welcoming and friendly, open and honest, helpful, and ready to listen and discuss. As I would find out, it indeed came from the top.
“My success has been surrounding myself, and my people, with great people, many of them who were a lot smarter than Eddie Smith,” he said, with a humble laugh and what I envisioned was a smile. “The greatest talent a leader could hope for is to be supported by people like that.”
Eddie went on to discuss the early days of Grady-White and how he built that feeling of belonging and “right of ownership” in the collective process he and all the people in the Greenville facility, and the greater community, were involved in.
“It’s not just the building and outfitting it for its purpose in the proper manner and always looking to improve and modernize the workspace as well as the offices,” he said. “It was something else that was much more important than simple brick and mortar. It was taking care of the people inside that would enable the business to become what it is. That’s the major reason I chose the path I did regardless of what anyone thought. I felt it was the right thing to do to protect the people that are there now and treat them the way we always have; sharing profits, having an on-site health clinic for them and their families, providing a safe and productive workspace, and all the other things we could provide. That had to continue and I knew, if I sold the company, it would most probably not.”
Eddie’s background played an important part in his success although he would not take all the credit and with a great deal of humility, used the word accomplishments instead. “My dad taught me that and as a very young man. I watched the way he treated people, his employees and his customers.” His father owned a mail-order company with about 140 employees and while the positiveness of the operation shone through as he spun his remembrances, there was one element that stood out from the others. Every Monday morning, Smith’s father would wake up at 4 a.m. to be at the facility in order to make breakfast for all the employees. “We had a special break room where everyone could gather. It had a full kitchen down one side equipped with all the stuff we needed. He scrambled 17 dozen eggs, made a 150 biscuits from scratch, fried sausage, and made brown gravy and grits. He did that every Monday morning for 30 years and everyone loved him for it. And that’s the background I came from.”
If memory serves me well, my history with Grady-White goes back to September of 1994 when I joined the masthead at Power & Motoryacht magazine. As the months passed by, and winter gave way to spring, I was getting myself settled into the routine and rhythm of monthly magazine operations. There were deadlines, travel, crucial photography, layout procedures, and other matters. I was given an assignment to sea trial a new, for that particular year, Grady-White. I petitioned my boss at the time the late esteemed PMY editor Richard Thiel to let me visit the factory first, meet the principles, and get a unique prospective to my coverage. It would prove to be quite the positive move. That’s when I met Joey Weller, the company’s then VP of Marketing and Sales.
Soft spoken, gentlemanly, courteous and gracious, Joey greeted me outside the factory floor and thus began a decades-long relationship spanning business and friendship. Not only was he knowledgeable with every facet of the Grady-White production facility, but his insight and expertise of the product, provided me all the information I would need to craft a solid story about the boat I was covering. I noted all these details he provided while watching how another model hull was being built on the line.
As we went from station to station on the factory floor, no matter who we stopped to speak to, I found the same willingness, the same openness, the same genuine honesty Joey had shown me when we first met earlier that day. This philosophy ran through everyone in the company including then VP of Engineering David Neese, Executive VP of Engineering Wylie Corbett, the fabricators, equipment installers, those responsible for make-ready delivery, and others. By the time my tour was nearing its conclusion, I was starting to pick up a theme about the folks responsible for crafting Grady-White boats. That’s when Joey, who will be a part of the stewardship committee for the trust, told me he had set up a meeting with the recently appointed company president, that being Kris Carroll, for the morning before my sea trial.
Dynamic, was the first reaction I perceived as she got up from her chair in her office and stepped forward, hand outstretched, and smiling. Joey had made the formal introduction, and we quickly settled into a very professional yet relaxed conversation about running a major boat building company and how to maintain, and grow, its industry position. At the heart of the discussion was the all-important message of instilling pride and loyalty in the workforce.
“The situation with the trust is that it is going to protect what was carefully built over the years by so many people,” she began as we discussed the news. “I came here in 1975 from Boston when I was 24 years old and I just walked into a boat factory and was hired as a clerk. Even back then, Eddie’s solid values and principles were so apparent. That was 48 years ago and nothing has changed in that attitude in all those years. In fact, it’s only gotten stronger. People care when they are cared for.”
CEO Kris Carroll, chief executive emeritus Eddie Smith, and executive VP Jonathon Burns in charge of production. Kris will continue as CEO with Jonathon as her second in command. Photo courtesy of Grady-White.
In order to build the inner strength of the company, instill that feeling of pride and ownership, Eddie made sure his relationships with the dealer-customer was strong and cared about always keeping that above board and honest. “That was instilled early on when the company was first acquired,” Kris told me. “To make sure that inner structure of the company was as solid as it could be, Eddie hired Wiley Corbett as general manager and head of manufacturing. Eddie recognized in Wiley that love of what he did, and how he combined efficiency with the values and principles in an environment of success while designing and engineering boats that are feature rich.”
Team building was important to Kris and for her that meant a vertical approach; from everyone who had a hand in building a boat, no one was left out.
“It all started with Eddie buying the company and his passion for perfection,” Kris said. “He always wanted that especially when we were coming out of survival mode in the 1970’s, trying to define who we were, and looking for shelter and safety and self-actualization. What resulted was keeping people for their whole careers, with little turnover, learning to care for them. That, of course, branched out to our dealer-customer and eventually transferred to the boat owner and even into our community here in Greenville. That is what has happened to us. We have brought incredible value to all who have been touched by Grady-White boats. Eddie’s decision to create the perpetual trust will mean Grady-White, as a company, can go on for generations to come and took almost a year and a half to craft.” Time well spent was my takeaway.
The night before I was to leave Greenville after my sea trial back then, I was invited to Eddie’s home for a backyard barbeque. Many of the folks I had met during my plant visit were there, kids in tow, and I quickly settled into the warmth and camaraderie present in the group. I watched as Eddie baked potatoes while steaks were being seared, corn was being boiled, and greens and grits prepared. Line workers stood beside office personnel who helped executives serve the prodigious amount of food being readied.
This was what Eddie and Kris were talking about. This was what had to not only be preserved but continued. And that is why Eddie Smith decided to put the company he had carefully nurtured and grew into one of the most iconic ones in the marine industry into the care of a perpetual purpose trust. In keeping with Eddie’s generous spirit, part of the trust would also make sure that profits from the company business would go to charity.
In closing, Eddie reflected on the subject of legacy. “I never thought a lot about legacy, I just did what I did, day in and day out. In the early years it was very difficult to turn the company around. I might have been better off if I started a new boat building company in a cornfield somewhere. As I sit here, nearing 84 years old, it’s not about a personal legacy but more about a company legacy. I think Grady-White has reached a point, and I can say it right now, as I am out and Kris and Jonathan and the management team and the rest of the crew are here to carry on. We occupy a unique niche in the industry, and I would hope to see a company that treats people well, one that thinks first about their employees, their dealers and customers, before even thinking about themselves, and just doing good. I think Grady-White has reached a point in the industry where it has strong values and a culture that we stick to. That is what is going to be our legacy, locked in for many years to come through the trust document, owning the company and never selling it.”
Eddie Smith’s perpetual purpose trust for Grady-White will guarantee boats like the Freedom 415 will continue to bring joy excitement, and adventure to its owners and guests far into the future along with the company he has been building since 1968.
Photo courtesy of Grady-White.
