Smith Frozen Foods Received Military Contracts, While Gordon Smith Managed Company

Portland - Documents reveal that before Smith Frozen Foods received a bounty of taxpayer money from the Department of Agriculture (USDA), it was reaping additional contracts from the U.S. military.  In fact, as much as 10 percent of the company’s money may have come from the government.

“Gordon Smith never mentions his lucrative business relationship with the Department of Defense,” DPO Executive Director Trent Lutz said.  “Gordon Smith should immediately disclose any contracts his company has received from the government, especially contracts his company has received since Smith entered the U.S. Senate.  Smith should also disclose any role he had in lobbying for these contracts.”

In 2000, Smith Frozen Foods received more than $3 million from USDA (while trying to reduce its local property taxes by at least $300,000).  But before that, it was getting contracts from the Department of Defense. 

According to a memo from the U.S. Department of Labor written July 1991, while Gordon Smith was actively running the company, Smith Frozen Foods had received contracts from the Department of Defense.  The information was taken during a meeting with Smith Frozen Foods officials David Jensen and Russell Krey.  The notations on the memo indicate that government contracts comprised approximately 10% of the business. 

According to the memo, “The company also has various government contracts with the military to supply canned and frozen vegetables to their commissaries.”

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