Ray Smith, Sr., and sons, Ray Smith, Jr., and W. Douglas Smith, founded the business, first known as Smith Machine Tool Co., in McMinnville, Tennessee, in 1967. Ray, Sr., and his brothers were the owners and managers of Powermatic, the McMinnville-based manufacturer of wood and metal working machinery, which was established by their father, Leonard F. Smith, Sr., back in 1928.
 

Beginning as a specialty fabricator, SMT rapidly moved into manufacturing and was offering a full range of arbor presses by mid-1968. By 1969, the company was manufacturing foot shears under the brand name TENNSMITH. The TENNSMITH name reflected the location of the plant, the Smith family ownership, and played off the sheet metal term of “tinsmith.” Smith Machine Tool Co. was reincorporated as TENNSMITH, Inc., in 1977.

Since 1969, TENNSMITH has developed a full range of sheet metal tools including hand brakes,power shears, slip rolls, cleat benders, notchers and rotary machines. By the early 1980s, the company came to be recognized as a market leader in sheet metal fabricating machinery. Quality workmanship, product performance and customer satisfaction are the key ingredients of maintaining our future growth.