The ARVA Way

Built to the highest international standards

Significantly reduced downtime

Lowest warranty claims in the industry

Ultra-responsive service

In house multi-discipline expertise in design, assembly, and quality assurance

A substantial inventory of major components, assemblies, and critical parts

Safety is always our top priority

Training

Repairs

Annual Inspections

Maintenance

Our History

What happens when you take a “He can design and build anything”, son of a sharecropper from Kansas, and a “mechanically trained, savvy, driven” son of a chemist and put them together?

From that first meeting and thereafter comes innovation, new products and services, and cool things that changed the world of heavy equipment engineering and manufacturing.

When Fred Smith and Vern Eck became friends and found a shared passion for solving problems no one had been able to solve they went to work. From this shared drive was born a successful partnership and long-lasting friendship that would last for decades.

Their strategy was born of the work ethic they were both raised in – draw-it-by-hand, make it from scratch, do it together, make sure it exceeds everyone’s expectations, build one mighty machine, and take it to the prospective customer who was always amazed at their ingenuity. As environmental innovators, they adopted hybrid technology early on with an eye on a cleaner environment.

Every time you see a hydro tower, think Fred and Vern-they were the two that figured out that lifting the entire tower to fix the systemic problem of wires hanging too low to the ground was the most cost-effective and efficient way to solve a global problem. They designed it, built one, and it worked! It would go on to countless installations and save untold amounts of money for the government.

ARVA employs exceptional people on exceptional projects and the list of companies that rely on our expertise and commitment includes, Toronto Transit Commission, New York City Transit, Port Authority Transit Corporation, Epiroc, Ontario Hydro, Tata Chemicals, Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Army, and the U.S. Airforce just to name a few.

Today you will find the name ARVA on rail and mining equipment, and cranes all over the world from New York to Nevada, Saskatchewan to Japan, Afghanistan to Mexico. ARVA Industries machines have transformed the way companies and organizations do business.

  • History
  • Hard-Work
  • Dedication
  • Innovation
  • Engineering
  • Manufacturing
  • Modern

That’s The ARVA Way.

Leadership Team

Great companies are only as good as what they achieve today. Rather then resting on our 40+ years of success, our leadership team pushes everyday for everyday, inspiring the team to new heights. With over 50 years of collective experience around the world, the Arva leadership team brings a diverse background of design, engineering, and manufacturing expertise. Passion and dedication is how they live and work, and it is reflected in all Arva Industries products.

Paul J. Smith

President

Paul J. Smith

President

Paul J Smith has dedicated more than 25 years building high performance teams around the globe including Fortune 500 companies in engineering and manufacturing industries. He has lived and worked in France, Sweden, Norway and the USA. His expertise includes business development in international settings. Paul has an MBA from a French Business school where he graduated with distinction. Previously Paul was worked in a key roles in Business Development and Project Manager for both Strategic Materials and Waste Management in the USA. In these roles his concentration was the recycling industry. He also led global procurement efforts for recycled materials for Owens Illinois the world’s largest glass container company. He is currently the President and CEO of ARVA Industries an engineering company that manufactures primarily mining and rail equipment with concentration on new product development.

Shawn Smith

Vice President

Shawn Smith

Vice President

Shawn Smith has dedicated over 26 years to Arva Industries starting as Quality Manager and working his way up to Vice President, Operations. He started working for a crane manufacturer in high school and through summer jobs during university. Shawn worked in parts and finished working on the crane test pad and assisting field service personnel. After that he obtained his tower and mobile crane operator license and worked briefly as an operator under various contracts. From an early age, Shawn had a passion for all things mechanical and even built his first race car at 18 years old in his father’s garage. His passion for detail has been instrumental in Arva Industries growing into the world-class company it is today. Shawn's time is split between overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Arva manufacturing facility and working with key customers on sales and service.

Kevin Spicer

Director

Kevin Spicer

Director

Kevin Spicer, P. Eng, is an experienced executive in the engineering, construction, and railway industries. He has had significant international exposure with working stints in each of Shanghai, Luxembourg, Australia, and Canada. As Director at Arva, Kevin spends much of his time working with customers on how to solve maintenance tasks with machinery. Internally, he splits his time between sales, marketing, engineering, and general Arva management. He is also the current Engineer of Record for the company. Previous roles served at Arva were; Engineering Manager and Director of Engineering. Kevin is a graduate of the University of Windsor in Mechanical Engineering and has recently completed a Professional Certificate in Marketing Management at Western University.
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519-637-1855 sales@arvaindustries.com