Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America Celebrates 40th Anniversary

Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America (SMA) , one of 30 Sumitomo Power Transmission and Controls companies united under the Sumitomo Drive Technologies brand, recently marked its 40th Anniversary with a ceremony and commemorative dinner at their Chesapeake, VA headquarters.

In June of 1966, Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America began in a small 5000 square feet facility in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The original 6 staff members handled all of the business functions and shipped about 100 units in that first year. Over the next 40 years, SMA grew rapidly to become one of the most dominant power transmission suppliers in the Americas with 9 facilities and over 300 employees. The SMA headquarters, located in Chesapeake, VA since 1988, represents the excellent growth of the last 40 years. Since 2003, SMA has experienced its most dramatic growth, with 4 years of record Bookings, Sales and Profit.

The celebration, held on October 12, 2006, honored the dedication and effort of past and present employees. Guests included key Sumitomo Heavy Industries’ executives; SMA executives, senior sales managers and corporate headquarters employees; members of SMA’s Latin America Operations; and SM-Cyclo of Canada executives. Yoshio Hinoh, President of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, paid tribute to SMA’s accomplishments in his opening speech. “Your continued dedication and effort has enabled SMA to build success and growth over 40 years. Since SHI made its commitment to manufacture here in the United States 40 years ago, SMA has established its unique position in the market against far bigger competing companies. I am very pleased and honored to have SMA within our group.”

As part of the celebration, several employees received commemorative plaques for 30 plus years of dedicated service. “. . . success comes not only from current employees work and dedication but also from the strong business foundation of our predecessors,” said Yuji Imasato, C.E.O. of SMA. Ron Smith, President of SMA expressed similar sentiments, “I have no doubt that we could not have achieved 40 years of success without the continued dedication of all our current and past employees. He also emphasized that SMA’s key corporate values to “deliver the highest customer value with the best people and continuous process improvement,” will ensure SMA’s future growth and success.