President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the Smith family to find their point.

In 1947, Carl E. Smith, "Smitty" to all but his mother and wife, founded an outdoor billboard printing company in Tulsa, Okla. Eighteen years later, Johnson pushed through the Highway Beautification Act of 1965, restricting billboards along the nation's highways.

The end to billboards for the Smith family would not come for awhile, but they saw the writing on the wall, says Stuart Smith, son of the company's founder. The Smiths moved the entire company in 1973 to Houston—the mecca of billboards and the city where Poster Inc.'s sales and production had been since the 1950s.

"We moved to Houston because we saw (the lessening demand) for billboards. It was going away," says Stuart Smith. In 1991, the Smith family printed its last billboard.

The future as the Smiths saw it was in diversification. With a knowledge of screen process printing and the importance of outdoor ink, they began Pointsmith (www.pointsmith.net), a point-of-purchase display printing company. "We followed the evolution—convenience stores, convenience stores that pumped gas, oil companies merchandising, fast food, etc.," Smith says.

It's an evolution that began with Carl E. Smith's desire NOT to be a grocery store owner. Stuart Smith says his father hated working at the grocery store run by his grandfather. "He was an artist," Smith says.

Thus, Posters Inc. was born. But it wasn't a mandate for Stuart Smith to join. "My father said, 'if you ever want to run the business, it's here. But if you don't want to, I'll be behind whatever you do.'"

Smith liked the variety in billboard printing and opted for the family business. He guided its evolution to its current focus on point-of-purchase displays—those signs and displays advertising a special on milk or encouraging you as you pump gas to go inside and buy discounted candy bars.

Unlike outdoor billboards, the effectiveness of point-of-purchase display promotions can be measured. "It's astronomical," Smith says of the results. "If there's a point-of-purchase promotion at a chain that sells Coke, for example, it's incredible. It's not like they sell a few extra cartons, they sell truckloads extra.

"It's just fun. It's a real challenge," Smith says.

Pointsmith is a challenge that has evolved into an expanded family business. Stuart Smith is one of four children. All but one is involved in the business: his sister, Sylvia Bryant, and her husband, Pat, and his brother, Stacy, and his wife, Sandra. Their sister, Sharon Butler, is uninvolved in the business and sold her shares to the others in the 1990s.

His mother, Thelma, 89, still retains ownership and still contributes. "She's a consultant who is usually right after analyzing the issues. She understands it completely," Smith says.

In recent years, all the siblings have had opportunities to sell Pointsmith or allow it to be acquired. They have talked about the possibilities and their children have expressed their opinion on the potential sale proposals.

"Invariably, the third generation would say, 'You guys are selling out,'" Stuart Smith says. "It's music to our ears."

The symphony of the third generation is very much present in day-to-day operations. Stuart Smith's son, Troy, is an executive vice president. The three children of Sylvia and Pat Bryant also are involved. Mitch is a production administration manager; Shelby is in research and development; and Jared is a production manager. Stacy and Sandra Smith's daughter, Shawn works with databases and their son, Skeet, is in the customer service department.

"Several of the kids went elsewhere and came back. 'Now I tried that,' they would say," Stuart Smith says. "All the kids got college educations and are damn smart."

"When I come into work early, these are the people here," he says.

The parents enjoy working and watching their children in the business. They know the children have a lot to learn and sometimes like to play games to encourage their personal development, Smith notes.

Jared Bryant is the youngest of the third generation and recently graduated from college. As one of his first duties, he was told to negotiate a new ink contract—an important move in a company whose every product requires ink. "I just said, 'you're expected to make the right decision,'" Smith explains. "It's a learning process."

It's a team approach to a point that is embraced by Smith. That's a big difference from his father's dictatorial style. It has to be—his father could dictate because he owned the majority of the company. Smith shares ownership with his siblings, thus they share in the decision-making process.

"I don't know any different," he says. "When we have tough decisions, everybody comes to the table, puts in their two cents' worth. They're all good ideas. Then we make a decision and live with it."

That decision making is not insulated within the family. Smith advocates using professionals in the process when making important decisions. "Get all the facts, gather all the information and make decisions," he says. "Nine out of 10 times you're going to make it work." e