Moving Metal

already conquering the Far East. The U.S. government was growing uneasy, and on October 26, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had declared on national radio, “We must be prepared to meet with success any application of force against us.” Neilan understood that rearmament would entail large-scale expansion of the nation’s military and a likely rejuvenation of the construction business, particularly in California, which would be strategically important in the event of a war in the Pacific. If he was right, steel products would soon be in high demand—and Neilan soon found reason to view his “temporary” venture as a more lasting commitment. STARTING OUT IN WARTIME On February 3, 1939, Neilan incorporated Reliance Steel Products Co. A tenant was already selling steel products from a warehouse Neilan owned in the San Fran- cisco Bay area. Opting not to compete, Neilan decided to incorporate the new company in Los Angeles. He rented 6,600 square feet of space in a warehouse just outside of the city limits at the northeast corner of East 37th Street and Ross Avenue in Vernon, California. Neilan was not planning to use all of the space, so he subleased some of it temporarily to the Seaboard Transportation Company. Since Neilan had no interest in running the company’s day-to-day operations, he arranged for a business associ- ate, civil engineer Charles “Chad” Calhoun, to become Reliance’s President. Neilan became Vice President, col- league Harold P. Ridgway became Secretary-Treasurer, and local attorney Bernard Hiemenz agreed to serve as outside counsel. In early February, Reliance formalized its agreement with Pacific States Steel to keep the supply

At the first meeting of the Reliance Board of Directors on February 4, 1939, Chad Calhoun was President and Harold Ridgway was Secretary-Treasurer. Both would soon be gone—it was Tom Neilan’s enterprise from the start.

12