E. A. Smith
Encyclopedia
E. A. Smith AS is a Norwegian
trading
company which owns other companies
in the Smith Group (Smith-gruppen). It has its headquarters in Trondheim
. It owns Bygger'n, a nationwide building materials chain of approximately 100 stores.
The firm was founded in 1869 by wholesale
r Elias Anton Smith (1842–1912). One of the sons of Elias Anton Smith was Norwegian American
, chemical engineer Elias Anton Cappelen Smith
who was a partner
in Guggenheim Brothers
of New York City, and gave large donation
s to Norway.
From the start, the company dealt with trade on iron and hardware
, oil and derivatives, as well as cement
and coal. These products would be the company's main interest in the following years. Elias Anton Smith's company flourished, and became well known both by the town's public, and in the larger districts of Trøndelag
and Northern Norway.
The Smith group is today established in large parts of the country, and is Norway's only complete supplier of steel
, metal
s, building materials, lumber
, reinforcement
and tools with customer
service and logistics
. The headquarters are based in Trondheim, where E. A. Smith AS deals with central finance
, accounting and IT
services for the whole Smith group. It is today one of the country's oldest active trading companies. The company is still owned by descendants of Elias Anton Smith, with Trond Reinertsen
as President.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
trading
Trader (finance)
A trader is someone in finance who buys and sells financial instruments such as stocks, bonds, commodities and derivatives. A broker who simply fills buy or sell orders is not a trader, as they are merely executing instructions given to them. According to the Wall Street Journal in 2004, a managing...
company which owns other companies
Company
A company is a form of business organization. It is an association or collection of individual real persons and/or other companies, who each provide some form of capital. This group has a common purpose or focus and an aim of gaining profits. This collection, group or association of persons can be...
in the Smith Group (Smith-gruppen). It has its headquarters in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
. It owns Bygger'n, a nationwide building materials chain of approximately 100 stores.
The firm was founded in 1869 by wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
r Elias Anton Smith (1842–1912). One of the sons of Elias Anton Smith was Norwegian American
Norwegian American
Norwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...
, chemical engineer Elias Anton Cappelen Smith
Elias Anton Cappelen Smith
Elias Anton Cappelen Smith was a Norwegian American civil engineer and metallurgist, who pioneered copper production in the early 20th century. Among his achievements were the Peirce-Smith converter process and the Guggenheim process.-Background:Cappelen Smith was born in Trondheim in...
who was a partner
Partner (business rank)
A partner in a law firm, accounting firm, consulting firm, or financial firm is a highly ranked position. Originally, these businesses were set up as legal partnerships in which the partners were entitled to a share of the profits of the enterprise. The name has remained even though many of these...
in Guggenheim Brothers
Guggenheim family
The Guggenheim family is an American family, of Swiss Jewish ancestry. Beginning with Meyer Guggenheim, who arrived in America in 1847, the family were known for their global successes in mining and smelting . During the 19th century, the family possessed one of the largest fortunes in the world...
of New York City, and gave large donation
Donation
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...
s to Norway.
From the start, the company dealt with trade on iron and hardware
Hardware
Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....
, oil and derivatives, as well as cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
and coal. These products would be the company's main interest in the following years. Elias Anton Smith's company flourished, and became well known both by the town's public, and in the larger districts of Trøndelag
Trøndelag
Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...
and Northern Norway.
The Smith group is today established in large parts of the country, and is Norway's only complete supplier of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
s, building materials, lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
, reinforcement
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
and tools with customer
Customer
A customer is usually used to refer to a current or potential buyer or user of the products of an individual or organization, called the supplier, seller, or vendor. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services...
service and logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
. The headquarters are based in Trondheim, where E. A. Smith AS deals with central finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, accounting and IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
services for the whole Smith group. It is today one of the country's oldest active trading companies. The company is still owned by descendants of Elias Anton Smith, with Trond Reinertsen
Trond Reinertsen
Trond R. Reinertsen is a Norwegian economist and business leader. He has a Ph.D from the University of Utah. From 1978 to 1997 he was chief director of the Norwegian Bank Association....
as President.