National Wholesale Co. was well-prepared long before its founder’s passing

By Paul Miller

Key Changes, Post-Smith
Unlike some aging entrepreneurs from past generations, Smith always gave National Wholesale staffers carte blanche to invest in whatever technology they needed. Smith himself was no exception to the stereotype: “He never had a computer, but he always believed in technology even though he didn’t understand it,” Swann says. “He trusted his co-workers, such as Mike Tate, to tell him this was what we needed. To that, he’d respond, ‘Tell me how much, and I’ll write the check.’”