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"I like coming home knowing we've accomplished what we
set out to do," said Smith, Evergreen's founder and chairman.
"I want to make each day count."
As the small jet descends, Smith admires the verdant farmland
of the Willamette Valley, where Evergreen's agricultural company
grows Christmas trees, seed crops and nursery stock on 7,000
acres. Rivers and lakes engorged with fall rain contrast sharply
with the monochromatic Arizona desert, where he spent the day
meeting with board members at the Evergreen Air Center maintenance
facility.
Home is in sight. Smith can see the hazelnut orchards surrounding
his house on the banks of the Willamette River at Dundee.
His other home comes into view as the jet nears McMinnville
Airport: Evergreen's corporate headquarters.
Several massive office buildings flank a unique memorial to
one of Smith's sons, the late Capt. Michael King Smith. The memorial
is a fighter plane, like the ones that Michael Smith once flew,
mounted so that it appears to soar.
Lift and thrust
Like that plane, Evergreen lifts off from its base in McMinnville.
With business and humanitarian aid interests that encircle the
globe, Evergreen is the most diversified aviation corporation
in the world.
Although its CEO says he considers himself "one of the
team," most people would disagree. They say Smith is Evergreen.
Evergreen is Smith.
Smith might object to being called the corporation's heart
and soul. But he provides its lift and thrust. He is the force
that makes it ascend, keeps it aloft and assures its safe landings.
Work ethic
When Smith arrives at Evergreen headquarters in the morning
darkness, office lights already are being flicked on by employees
who share the CEO's drive.
"I believe in hard work and honesty," Smith said.
"I guess I want to be remembered as a spirited organizer
with a good work ethic.
"Life is a gift. You owe God your best performance."
Business officially starts at 7 a.m., when all of Evergreen's
companies get together to share information and ideas about that
day's area of focus: management on Mondays, money on Tuesdays,
manpower on Wednesdays, machines and materials on Thursdays,
marketing on Fridays.
The meetings aren't for managers only, but for every employee.
Smith said he believes in sharing knowledge and making people
feel part of the company. That increases the number of good ideas
exponentially.
"Nobody's as smart as everybody," Smith said. It's
one of his familiar phrases, one of his rules to do business
by.
Personal relationships
Smith doesn't know each of Evergreen's several thousand employees
personally. But he knows hundreds of them. He calls them by their
first names and greets them with a familiar handshake.
"Good to see you, Mr. Smith," they reply.
Flying home from the board meeting in Arizona, Smith went
over his day with Mike Spencer, financial chief with Evergreen
Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprises, known as EAGLE. As they
reviewed a bound report about the air center, he discussed, from
memory, specific staffers.
"This kid is good," he said, and, "This guy's
hitting home runs." Turning to another, he noted, "He
needs to set higher goals."
Smith tapped a finger on a printed name.
"I enjoy visiting with this guy," he said. "He
tells you the bitter with the sweet. I like the ones who don't
dance around."
Closing the book, he said, "They're all nice people.
There's a good work ethic there."
Personal relationships are an important part of doing business,
Smith said. That's one reason Evergreen has sales representatives
based in many countries. They can get to know clients face-to-face,
rather than dealing solely by e-mail and fax.
On the go
Smith builds relationships and keeps track of his business
dealings by visiting Evergreen sites all over the world. At 69,
he still spends about 150 days a year on the road.
He was in Hong Kong last week. He was in Africa and the Middle
East earlier this year.
He's been to Europe seven times in 1999. He's been to New
York and Washington D.C. more than a dozen times.
After all that, flying 540 mph at 41,000 feet in the company
jet is as familiar as driving 55 mph down Highway 99W in his
Chevy Blazer. But, while Smith takes flight for granted, he still
enjoys it.
No fear of flying
He started flying in the 1940s, as a teen-ager intrigued by
the challenge and romance of air travel. Flight remains a cause
for wonder yet today, more than 50 years later.
"That new tiltwing," he marveled, discussing a Bell-Boeing
aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff ability of helicopters
with the characteristics of fixed-wing flight once aloft. "I'd
love to be 25 years old and have a crack at that."
Smith, a 1953 graduate of the University of Washington, grew
up in Centralia. He spent his early years in an orphanage.
At 3, he found a home with a single mother, a woman he calls
a saint. She raised her adopted son to work hard, dream big and
maintain honesty and integrity no matter what.
Riding the helicopter
When he finished a stint as an Air Force officer, helicopters
were new. "People didn't realize yet the opportunities that
helicopters would give them," he said.
Smith saw so many possibilities in the craft. He and his company
pioneered uses that now are standard.
"A helicopter can be an angel of mercy," Smith said.
"If there's a hurricane, we can get there. If there's an
earthquake, we can get there. If there's a fire, we an get there."
For many years, Smith was a pilot of both helicopters and
fixed-wing craft. Nowadays, though, business keeps him out of
the pilot's seat.
"You need to stay current to be the pilot," he said.
"Flying is like riding a bicycle: You never really forget.
But to be proficient, you need to do it regularly."
At the helm of Evergreen, he stays proficient in the role
of leader.
"Leadership by example is the best form," he said.
"Leadership is one of the rarest talents in the world. There
are more sheep than shepherds. That's part of the problem."
Leadership is partly a natural talent, partly something that's
learned, Smith said.
He honed his leadership skills in the military as an Air Force
officer. He sees the military and organizations like the Boy
Scouts as incubators of future leaders.
Grounded in McMinnville
When Smith started Evergreen, he picked McMinnville as the
location of his fledgling helicopter service because he liked
the town and its central location. He keeps the base here because
he still likes the quality of life and because it's still central.
"We work worldwide, so we could be anywhere," he
said, noting, "I don't think McMinnville appreciates how
much we bring in to this community."
Smith chose the name Evergreen because it symbolized the Northwest
and fit with the logging industry, a major thrust of his helicopter
business when he set out 40 years ago. "You never want a
name that limits you," he said.
He has learned in recent years that Asians associate the word
"evergreen" with peace and prosperity. He likes that.
He doesn't like hearing rumors or criticism about Evergreen's
work with the military or its government contracts.
"It bothers the hell out of me that people have the wrong
impression," he said. "We've been helping. We've done
our patriotic duty, whether it's fighting the dope battle or
helping with an operation to end blindness. We just strive to
work hard and be honest."
High expectations
Employees describe Smith as a demanding boss, a leader with
high expectations, little tolerance for error and no tolerance
whatsoever for slacking off.
"There can be a lot of stress," conceded Elsie Henry,
a 26-year employee serving as vice president for payroll, personnel
and benefits.
But she and other employees are quick to say they respect
those high standards. They describe Smith as someone they want
to listen to and learn from - someone with big ideas and the
know-how and contacts them take off.
And they praise Smith, along with the corporation, for providing
plenty of room for growth for people who are willing to work
hard.
Ample opportunities
Thomas Hinman joined the company 20 years ago as an assistant
mechanic. Now he is manager of technical training at Evergreen
Air Center.
"Mr. Smith has given me more opportunities than anyone
I know," he said.
Gwena Wootress, an attorney with Evergreen, said she came
to the company two and a half years ago because if offered the
chance to work independently and come up with creative ideas.
"Mr. Smith is great about letting somebody come in ...
whether you have a master's degree or a high school diploma,
you have the opportunity to grow," Wootress said.
Steven Duran, who works in international sales and marketing
at the Air Center, also noted the opportunities that Evergreen
has given him.
"This is a real crossroads," he said. "You
meet people you just want to listen to and learn from, like Del
Smith."
The Air Center
Duran, who grew up in Tucson - not far from the air center's
site in Marana - recalled wanting to work for Evergreen for many
years.
To residents of the area, he said, the company has something
of an air of mystery because the air center is surrounded by
fences and guarded by a private security force. It also has an
air of importance because it attracts an international clientele,
he said.
Local people value Evergreen, Duran said, because it employs
so many workers in Arizona's Imperial Valley. "Almost everyone
knows someone who works for Evergreen," he said.
According to Smith, the air center is important to Marana-area
residents for another reason too - it provides scholarships and
other community benefits.
"We have to be good citizens," Smith said. "That's
basic. In the Imperial Valley or in McMinnville."
Making an impression
It matters what people think of Evergreen, Smith said, and
it matters what they think of him. That goes for employees as
well as the general public.
"They know I'm a no-nonsense leader," he said. "I
don't want them to fear me. I don't want fear to be the motivation.
"But we're not running a halfway house. I have an obligation
to our leaders, to our customers, to our employees."
While Evergreen employees refer to him deferentially as "Mr.
Smith," he describes himself as just another member of the
Evergreen team. "I'm satisfied with a pair of jeans and
a pickup truck," he said.
Smith spends his private time enjoying his relationship with
his wife, Maria; playing with his three grandchildren; or visiting
with his surviving son, Mark Smith.
He's eagerly awaiting opening of the Capt. Michael Smith Evergreen
Aviation Educational Center. The museum, under construction across
Highway 18 from corporate headquarters, will continue a mission
that's important to the whole Smith family: preserving aviation
history, providing opportunities for young people and remembering
a fallen son.
In interviews, Smith is congenial and willing to answer personal
questions. He's never evasive. But any reply quickly and naturally
segues back to business talk.
"I read every night," he said. Novels don't interest
him, though. "Reading is for learning," he said, explaining
that he reads non-fiction and magazines that help him keep up
with world affairs.
He has little interest in the Internet on a personal basis,
he said. However, it may turn out to be an invaluable tool for
marketing, just as computer technology is a boon to materials
management. He's measuring the effectiveness of the Internet
for Evergreen, just as he measures every other aspect of the
business.
Regrets and accomplishments
Smith is, by design, a positive thinker. "I work at that,"
he said. "What you think is what you say and what you say
is what you do. Hope is your best friend."
Not that he doesn't have regrets. "There were times when
I zigged when I should've zagged," he said.
He would make some changes if he had his life, and his business,
to do over again, he said.
First, he said, he would make sure there was more vertical
integration in his companies. For instance, the ag business would
be not just a grower, but a processor as well. He might team
with large retail firms to market Christmas trees.
He said he also would develop a more complete helicopter company,
rather than a mostly contract-oriented business. He might team
with a seismic company, for instance, to conduct oil exploration.
"If I was 30 years old, I'd buy a floral distribution
company," he said, noting that among the cargo Evergreen
Airlines moves are flowers from Nairobi.
It costs 10 cents a stem to buy the flowers and 7 cents a
stem to ship them, but the selling price in Western Europe is
$5 a stem. He hates to pass up an opportunity like that.
There were plenty of times, though, when Smith landed both
wheels squarely on the business runway. Among his accomplishments,
he lists reforesting Oregon slopes by scattering seeds from a
helicopter; eradicating the black fly in Africa; helping with
efforts to end starvation in Pakistan; putting out 700 oil fires
in Kuwait; finishing the Alaska pipeline a year ahead of schedule;
eradicating heroin poppies in Mexico and thereby keeping drugs
off the streets.
Looking ahead
Smith wants to continue and expand his company's role in peacekeeping.
He said crucial steps toward peace including building infrastructure
and stabilizing the economy.
"Commerce and industry are the best peacemakers,"
he said.
Smith also would like to "build more bridges in the sky,"
connecting Chinese manufacturers to marketplaces in North America
and Western Europe, for example. Economic bridges will help the
cause of global peace, he said.
"How futile wars are," he said. "Look at Iraq
and Iran. They've been at war 14 years, and look at the wealth
that's been squandered."
Always looking for opportunities and creative solutions, Smith
also has ideas as he looks down from his plane over the landscape
of the Southwest.
"Water is life," he said, tracing patterns of canals
that have divert precious Colorado River water to former deserts
that now support farms.
He's been thinking of ways to share some of the Northwest's
excess water with parched areas. The water would be easy to move
long distances, he said, if jet engines were used for propulsion.
Aviation will only grow in importance in the future, Smith
said. In the next century, he sees more and more use of planes
to transport food and help in agricultural production.
"The airborne tractor will be as common as the farm tractor,"
he said.
He also sees more use of aircraft in environmentally safe
construction, such as power lines in remote areas. Aircraft also
will be more extensively used in law enforcement, from fighting
drug problems to border patrols, he predicts.
In addition, he said, "I'd like to reforest the Amazon
rain forest."
Meeting challenges
Evergreen and its CEO take particular pride in meeting new
challenges quickly.
"Agility is revenue-generating," Smith said. "We're
clearly ahead of the curve. We have to be. We can - we have -
responded when no one else could. We move when necessary."
He described case after case of being called to do a job and
getting it finished before other companies had time to even filter
the idea through their chain of command.
One Thanksgiving many years ago, for instance, a freighter
ran aground and started taking on water. Smith took off in his
helicopter to unload the cargo before the ship sank.
Another pilot might have finished Thanksgiving dinner first,
he said. Not him.
"I sleep with one eye open," Smith said. "Don't
think you can get complacent. You gotta keep scrambling."
Growing Evergreen
Before he retires, Smith said, his goal is to grow Evergreen
to the point that the corporation's annual revenue is up to $1
billion, almost double its current average.
He may retire in five years, or six, or 10. "Maybe never,"
he said. "Hell, no, I won't want to retire."
He's been working for 62 years, ever since he received 15
cents for mowing a lawn that seemed as big as a golf course.
He held all kinds of jobs, he said, from delivering newspapers
to working as a high-climber on a logging site.
"If I had 10 lives, I'd do a lot more - real estate,
or it would've been fun to have an ocean fleet," he said.
Although he doesn't crave retirement, Smith does consider
what will happen to the company after he is no longer the head.
"That's one reason I'm a raising hell about succession,"
he said. "We need to build strong management teams.
"Whether that's hard or not depends on the individuals.
Some don't need your thumb stuck on them all the time. Some do."
He reflected. "I think the management's in place now."
"Yes," said Spencer, the finance man at EAGLE. "But
that's because we all know that sooner or later, we're going
to turn around and Mr. Smith will be there, backing us up."
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