When winter turns to spring, Bill Smith and his crews at Smitty’s Sprinkler Systems don’t get many breaks.
Making sure their customers are ready for the summer watering season means working almost around the clock repairing busted sprinkler heads, installing new systems, finding kinked pipes and fixing whatever else needs it.
“We’re going seven days a week right now,” Smith said in an interview last week at his shop near Smoky Hill Road and South Chambers.
That dawn-to-dusk work ethic has made Smitty’s a fixture in the city’s business scene for parts of four decades, earning the company a loyal customer base that helped it weather the recent economic storm.
But Smith’s hard-working ways have their drawbacks — particularly if you are looking to shower the burly sprinkler man with praise.
Officials at the Aurora Chamber learned that firsthand last month when they named Smith the 2011 Small Business Person of the Year.
The Chamber doled out the awards during a ceremony on a Friday night in late April, an ideal time for many business people to get together and celebrate success. For Smith, it may as well have been a Monday morning.
“He was a hard one to get, because he wanted to work,” said Aurora Chamber President Kevin Hougen. “Friday night is a working night for him.”
Hougen said he had to rely on Smith’s family to wrangle him away from work and to the Crowne Plaza in Denver for the ceremony.
Smith said he knew something was up when his son Steve, who works with him, came to him that afternoon and told him to go home, put on a suit and be ready at 6 p.m.
The award was humbling, Smith said. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”
For Smitty’s long-time customers — and there are plenty dotting Aurora who have counted on Smitty’s for several decades -— seeing the friendly business owner honored is a welcome sight.
“I’m glad that he finally got some recognition,” said 85-year-old Hilde Hanas.
Hanas has been a customer of Smitty’s for more than 20 years and said Smith has always stood out from other businessmen. When some contractors see a widow, they’re interested in selling as much as they can and aren’t concerned about the customer, Hanas said.
“But Smitty is,” she said. “He’s honest and he never overcharged me.”
Henriette Coburn agreed.
“If anyone, deserves it, it’s Smitty,” she said.
Coburn has been customer of Smitty’s for more than 20 years and said when she has a problem, Smith or his son is quick to fix it.
“He would be here if I need him. So he deserves some recognition,” she said.
That closeness between Smitty’s and the customers is crucial to Smith.
“That’s the kind of relationship we have with our customers, everybody is like family,” he said.
Smitty’s got its start in 1982 not long after Smith moved to Aurora following his career in the United States Army. After he installed his own system at his new home, Smith decided he liked the work, took some courses, got his license and started Smitty’s.
“After 30 years, I still get satisfaction out of seeing that thing work after we install one, still feel pride,” he said.
Today, the company has about a dozen employees and is run by Smith, his wife Myrna and his son Steve.
The work is split pretty evenly between new installations, repairs and sales to do-it-yourself customers from the retail shop.
Smith said he takes pride knowing that when he walks around town, he doesn’t have to worry about being recognized by an unhappy customer because he’s spent 30 years making sure his customers are happy.
“It’s a good feeling that every where you go people say, ‘Hi Smitty,’” he said. “That means a lot.”
Reach reporter Brandon Johansson at 720-449-9040 or bjohansson@aurorasentinel.com